Sapphire Cinders
by galaxian gal
Summary: In which Lu Ten lived, his uncle started a Civil War, and two siblings never got the chance to wake the Avatar. But Aang or not, something must be done before the arrival of Sozin's Comet, and fate delegates that task to two teenage girls who have very incompatible interpretations of what restoring balance means. — AU. Slowburn Azutara.
1. Hunted & Stranded

A/N: **_Some Quick Facts About This Fic:  
_** **Chapters:** 37  
 **Pairing:** Azula x Katara [eventually]  
 **Rated:** T for fantasy violence, mild blood and gore, mild coarse language and suggestive themes.  
 **Notes:** This takes place during the exact same time frame as canon, it starts in winter and the comet is coming in summer. It essentially replaces canon with a much darker interpretation of the universe and a story about kickass girls, intertwined destinies and rad dragons.

* * *

 **SAPPHIRE CINDERS**

* * *

 _I carry strength from souls now gone  
They won't let me give in  
I will never surrender  
We'll free the Earth and sky  
Crush my heart into embers  
And I will reignite  
"Reignite" - Malukah_

* * *

 **Prologue:** Hunted

* * *

Azula extends her bloodied hand to the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe.

The thin layer of sweat on her skin glistens in the harsh sunlight as she declares, "There are two types of people in this world, Katara: the hunters and the hunted. It's time for you to decide which one you are."

Katara stares up at her with her lips contorted into a fierce snarl and their eyes lock for a fleeting second. She pushes herself to her feet and rubs the sand off of her hands.

"I'm pretty sure we're the hunted right now, _your majesty_ ," she says coldly with pure loathing in her eyes.

Azula purses her lips, rescinds her hand and wishes she didn't agree.

* * *

 **Chapter One:** Stranded

* * *

Three days earlier, Katara wakes to the sensation of lukewarm waves lapping against her skin.

They feel nice and soothing, a stark contrast from the hard, hot sand digging into her skin and the side of her face. Sand? Waves? Katara opens her eyes and sits up so quickly that her head spins. She does _not_ remember going to sleep half submerged in the ocean.

She remembers being on a Fire Nation ship, a captive of that horrible girl. Did they leave her here to die? Is this their idea of a prison? Are the people who captured her on this island, waiting for her, to hunt her in some sick game?

Katara looks out over the water and searches for any sign of land. Nothing. The horizon is pure blue as far as the eye can see. She looks towards the island and sees thick jungle reminiscent of the swamp.

 _Okay, okay, don't panic,_ she repeats over and over in her head.

Slowly, Katara stands. Her legs wobble but she catches herself and straightens her back. The sun beats against her and the sand coating half of her body is itching relentlessly. She seizes the water and washes herself in two hand motions before releasing it and wringing out her hair.

She could swim… maybe.

Katara does not entertain that idea for long, because the island is too tempting. She wants to _know_ why she is here and what awaits her.

The last thing she remembers is being held prisoner on that ship. Before that, she had the chore of leaving the Water Tribe camp by Sozin City and going to the harbor for supplies. She got caught stealing, then caught as a prisoner of war.

Sokka is _not_ going to make it on his own without her, even if he thinks he's such a tough warrior. If she hadn't stowed away with him, she doubts he would have even made it to dad and the Northern Warriors in the first place.

Now… dad isn't here, Sokka isn't here, not Bato, not the creepy, cocky, obnoxious Hahn who constantly hit on her. She thinks she already misses that jerk, because this is not good. This is _not good_.

She wonders if going into the jungle is a good or bad idea. Katara assumes she is near the Fire Nation, because she was captive for three days. They would kill her in an _instant_. And then there is the matter of the Civil War going on here. She could stumble into one of those notoriously gruesome battlefields.

 _Think, think, think._

Katara decides to go into the forest. She decides that there isn't a better choice.

[X]

Katara pushes leaves and branches out of the way as she walks in the jungle. It is so thick that she wonders if anyone has ever been here before. Of course, the Fire Nation probably has. They like conquering everything in sight – including each other.

She has just forced herself through a thicket of strange plants when they all suddenly go up in flames. Okay, the island is not uninhabited.

Katara dodges and seizes the water of three puddles. She blocks another burst of fire and then catches the broken water again. That fire is not any fire. Of course she survived that shipwreck. _Of course_.

Azula drops down from the trees and Katara flips out of the way of the cerulean flames. Her heart races from panic. She freezes her water as she sees her ex-captor lean towards the side; that would be lightning. Lightning would be bad.

Princess Azula flips backwards to avoid the blades of ice. One of them shears the fabric of her clothes and Katara smiles faintly. "Stop wearing yourself out! This is pointless!"

" _No_! It is _absolutely not pointless_!" Katara howls, tearing two thick tendrils of water from the stream. Azula made a mistake ambushing her right by the water source.

"I'm stuck too!" Azula finally snaps, her regal façade gone. "We got shipwrecked, peasant! Now help me escape and I'll take you with me!"

Katara scoffs, but does lower her hands – albeit without dropping her water. "I'd rather not be the honored guest of the S.S. Evil Fire Princess."

Azula glares and moves out of her fighting stance. Katara does not believe that surrender for a second.

But Azula says, "That wasn't even remotely funny, but I have no time to critique your sense humor, seeing as, unfortunately, right now we must work together or die alone."

Katara sighs and nods. She does drop the water. "I was thinking the same thing."

"We need to find food, shelter and fresh water," Azula orders and Katara narrows her cobalt eyes.

"What made you the leader?" Katara demands and Azula rolls her eyes.

" _Birth_ ," Azula coldly says.

Katara shakes her head. "I'm pretty certain you don't have the birthright. Your dad just wants the throne, which doesn't make you crown princess. Ever."

Azula cackles. "You have no idea what side is winning, do you?"

"Not yours," Katara bluntly responds, crossing her arms. That is not exactly true, but it does have the desired effect of briefly destroying Azula's flawlessly cold composure.

"You will shut up and help me escape this island," Azula orders with a _smug_ expression that makes Katara regret not impaling her.

Katara crisply says, "I don't like being spoken to like that. You might have had me as a prisoner earlier, but right now we're on the same level. I want to make it clear that I know more about survival than you do, and I take orders from exactly one person: _myself_."

Azula turns up a palm. "But you admit that I am right."

"I do, but only about the shelter, food and water. I think we need to work as a team. You won't make it alone, and I'll admit that I won't make it alone," Katara sternly says, her eyes fixated on Azula's.

"My ideas are not worth arguing about; we need to quickly decide what we are doing about water first. That should not be challenging… even for you."

"Excuse me," Katara says with a brisk laugh. "I'm pretty sure I almost impaled you about ten minutes ago—"

"Shut up about waterbending and start thinking about clean drinking water. You just dried up the only water source I found and turned it into mud that  
I will not drink even if I boil it. I have no idea what kind of horrific creatures live in the dirt on this island," Azula orders and Katara wishes that the evil princess did not have a point.

"I know this sounds petty," Katara snaps as they make their way through the thick jungle. "But I have some trouble trusting a person who _kidnapped me_!"

"I don't ask you to trust me. I wouldn't trust myself." Pause. "How do you suggest we find shelter, supreme leader?" Azula turns to face her former prisoner and crosses her arms.

Katara decides that Azula is not worth arguing with. Clearly, she has been told for her entire life that she is Princess of the World and Katara doubt she will change her mind.

"We should go further inland," Katara says. Azula sucks in her cheeks and weighs her options. She _does_ feel curious about the jungle, and she _does_ hope that they are on a peninsula and not an island; perhaps there will be Fire Nation villagers who would love the glory of rescuing their princess.

"Why?" Azula asks. "You're further from the water of the ocean and closer to the Fire Nation."

Katara explains, "I want to see what's there before the sun sets. Then I wouldn't want to be in the jungle. You can hear the animals and I bet over half of them would love to eat us."

She then begins to continue her march.

Azula remains behind for a few moments before throwing caution to the wind and following the waterbender deeper into the jungle.

[X]

The two girls become exhausted before they get very far.

"I think I can get water from the plants that you can sterilize or whatever it is you do," Katara suggests as Azula slows to a stop and sits down on a fallen tree.

She practiced that once or twice when learning about survival back in the former Earth Kingdom. The Northern Tribe were good teachers once Katara coerced them into letting her learn. She is the last of her own kind, however, and she always wondered what Southern Water Tribe style would be like.

"It seems likely to kill us. You truly could benefit from the Fire Nation military education." Azula says and Katara's eyebrow twitches.

The waterbender takes a deep breath and tries to remain calm.

"Dehydration definitely will kill us; I don't know if the plant water will," the waterbender says. She begins analyzing leaves before taking a deep breath and tearing at them. They burst and Azula conceals her awe. She has never seen a waterbender before Katara, and she had no idea how powerful they could be.

Princess Azula starts a fire and they silently wait, eyeing each other with utter suspicion.

When it is time, Azula waits for Katara to drink first, and then she does.

At least if Azula dies, this water peasant will too.

[X]

After their brief break, the two girls find nothing of use in the jungle until they reach a humongous rock formation. It seems to be the center of the island, and there is no way around it. The sky is tinted pink and both girls know that they must find somewhere to hide out soon.

"I see a cave," Katara says, her eyes flickering wide.

Azula does not see it, but she pretends that she does. They both scamper closer to the ancient rocks and scan for a way up. At last, Azula finds a narrow opening of rock walls that are close enough together to push herself up by her hands and feet.

"Why are you pointing at that?" Katara asks, staring at the gap in the leviathan stone.

"We need to get up there. This is a way up," Azula says, gesturing at the narrow crevice.

Katara's eyes follow it up to the ledges above. It _does_ lead directly towards the cave. But it also looks very deadly.

"You're going to ask me to go first, aren't you?" Katara asks, crossing her arms.

Azula blinks. "Yes. I am."

" _No_. You found it; you climb up first. I saw you punch through a roof when you attacked me and my family," Katara snaps, sparking rage in the princess.

But Azula gives in and says, "Fine. If you're so _scared_ , I'll go up first. But don't count on me to catch you when you fall."

"I wasn't going to in the first place. You wouldn't even trust yourself, remember?" Katara softly says. Her voice is hoarse from exhaustion.

Azula sighs and shimmies into the crevice. She wants to _live_ and so she will let the water peasant stand around in the rain all she wants. The princess pushes both hands against the rocks, then hops up to press her feet against the opposite side. She swallows and conceals the fact that she is nervous about this.

Her fire _can_ save her. But she would prefer to _not_ be rock climbing in the torrential rain.

She crawls up a few feet before the rocks beneath her come loose and she slides. Only a small scream escapes her lips before she starts climbing again. She dodges a hail of pebbles and then pushes herself to the ledge, grabbing onto it and hoisting herself up.

Azula lies down on the cliff to catch her breath and then stands.

"Start cli—" She turns to sees that Katara is already standing right behind her. Azula ignores the fact that her former prisoner is nearly as powerful as she is.

"Do you want to check out that cave?" Katara asks and Azula nods sharply. "Right. Let's go."

Azula pushes ahead of her, refusing to follow, and Katara rolls her eyes. This is an exercise in frustration for both girls. They walk quickly across the uneven ground, and then come to a halt in front of the cave.

"Scared?" Katara asks as she looks at the princess's wide eyes.

"No. I am confident I can defeat anything in that cave. But if you were observant you would notice that flag."

Katara walks to stand beside Azula and sees the tattered cloth stuck to a thorny bush. It is deep maroon and has a black symbol on it. Fire Nation.

"What does it mean?" Katara inquires, squinting at the tattered fabric.

Azula solemnly says, "It's the symbol of the Ruthless Sun."

"Well, good, you have some friends to help you off the island."

"No. They're traitors to the rightful inheritors of the throne—and not the kind who would be friendly to _you_. They fight for my cousin's army, and would be thrilled to kill me," Azula says before pursing her lips. She is quite nervous about this. Could she take those soldiers? Yes. But she hopes she does not have to, because she truly does not know what would happen if she had to face them.

Katara laughs mirthlessly. "Yeah, yeah, that's what you say. What Fire Nation people would even hurt other Fire Nation people?"

"I don't think you understand the meaning of the phrase _Civil War_. They are on my side as much as they are on your side," Azula airily declares.

"So, they hate non-Fire-Nation people, _and_ Fire Nation people. This is just fantastic." Katara _really_ wants to look on the bright side, but she cannot help but think about the fact that nothing ever goes right for her.

"I hope they were only here temporarily. There is a chance of that," Azula remarks before turning to face the cave. She points at the pitch black mouth. "You go in first."

Katara tightly crosses her arms. "I think it's hysterical how you think I'm going to listen to you."

Azula glares daggers. "I think that I went up the crevice first, and so you are going into the cave first, which is only fair."

"That _is_ the fairest thing you've suggested yet. So, fine, I'll go first." Katara pivots on her heel and starts walking towards the shadowy entrance.

"Wait," Azula says, grabbing Katara's arm. She nearly earns a slap on the face for that, but she swiftly dodges and releases her enemy. "It's dark. I can lead the way with my fire."

Katara warily consents. She does know that she cannot illuminate the cave like Azula can. That blue fire, however, gives Katara chills. She has dealt with firebenders, but none have been as lethal as the traitor princess.

Azula leads the way into the darkness. They keep walking for a few minutes, although staying at the mouth would be wiser. The light is fading outside, and the blue glow inside is brighter than the sun outside.

The stalactites and stalagmites drip rhythmically with water. Katara supposes they must be near some type of stream; it _is_ much colder and damper in here than outside.

Katara hears a scraping and scratching sound from the walls and turns from side to side seeking the source. Azula throws a tongue of fire first and a wolf-bat shrieks before collapsing to its cooked death.

"More!" Katara shouts, seizing the water dripping on the walls and spinning it to slap back two that come at her with angry fangs.

They both snap into action at the same time, water and fire holding back waves of wolf-bats.

When the fight is done, Katara lowers her hands and Azula isolates her fire to one palm again. They exchange a glance, and then avert their eyes.

"Should we continue?" Azula asks and Katara's lips part in surprise.

It is the first time Azula has not just snapped orders.

"Yes," Katara says and Azula keeps walking.

They remain silent for several minutes before the ground beneath them begins making very disconcerting sounds.

Before the girls can turn back, Azula's light goes out, the ground cracks loudly and the princess screams before Katara hears a _splash_. Oh no, oh no, oh no…

She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and feels the water. Katara seizes it and pulls, she feels a rush over her feet and she freezes the flood. No Azula. Katara seeks any light source but can't find one.

"Fire Princess?" Katara whispers. No response. If that girl _drowned_ that quickly, Katara will scream. "Fire Princess? Azula?"

She walks forward while maintaining her footing on the ice. She at last comes to a stop in front of the crumbled pit. That is clearly where Azula fell, but Katara cannot feel her in there.

Grumbling obscenities to herself, Katara jumps down and plunges into frigid water. She starts pulling it back, freezing it against the wall.

"Azula?" Katara loudly whispers. She then hits her face on a stone wall. Ouch.

The waterbender composes herself and ducks underneath it. She starts to crawl, using only the water to guide her. It is somehow _darker_ down here. Katara stops when she hits another wall, this time her hip bursting in pain.

Then she sees blue glowing from the left. Katara ducks down again, now swimming, and follows it. She delves deeper, hoping she will not find a corpse, but then the blue burns brighter. Katara kicks up to the surface and finds a small alcove with a visibly shaken and drenched princess inside of it.

"I've been calling out your name!" Katara sputters as she treads water.

Azula snarls, "I couldn't hear you through my near death experience. If the water hadn't started receding—"

"You mean if I hadn't _saved you_."

"Shut up. There's no ceiling but it's too wet for me to get up there." Azula holds up the scrapes on her arms.

How on Earth the spoilt princess is so calm and quiet while scratched, bruised and soaked confuses Katara, but she holds out her hand.

"I'll push us up there but you need to hold onto me. _Tightly_." Katara grabs Azula's arm and it stings.

Before Azula can protest, she is shooting towards the ceiling like a geyser at Sozin Memorial Park. She grabs on to the floor just in time and Katara follows before the water collapses back into the floor. They both scramble up and lie down on the first solid stone they find.

Then they turn towards the light. The obvious choice would be to leave the cave and find other shelter, seeing as the ground is clearly unstable. But there is the matter of the humongous spiky pit where the walkway towards the exit would be.

"I hope this is a tunnel," Azula murmurs as soon as she catches her breath and wrings out her bangs.

Katara cannot help but silently agree. She does, however, remain optimistic; that always has helped when she got into sticky situations with her comrades.

"We can manage to get out. Our bending combined should be good enough to escape some _rocks_. Let's keep going in. I'm not interested in that trap," Katara says.

"Good. Start walking," Azula orders.

" _Thank you for saving my life, Katara,"_ mutters the waterbender as she follows the bright blue light.

She glances around and sees that they are not the first people to find shelter in this cave. The walls are adorned with tribal imagery and… a lot of dragons. Must be a Fire Nation thing.

Azula slows to a stop at a dead end. "Let's stop here for a few minutes," she announces before trying to figure out how to light a stable fire.

"What are those drawings?" Katara asks, touching the beautiful paintings of humans and dragons. They're bluish tinted, but they must be very colorful in ordinary light.

"The Sun Warrior Empire used to extend throughout these islands. They were into dragons, when dragons weren't extinct. I guess they're extinct with them." Azula shrugs and tears off her own sleeves. Her arms are painful anyway. She tucks them into rock, dries them, and lights them. They will not last forever, but it will be good enough for now. "There used to be rumors about dragons living here in the Western Isles."

The blue glow becomes orange.

"Maybe there still are," Katara suggests and Azula cackles. Katara rolls her eyes.

Smugly, the Fire Princess says, "My uncle killed the last dragon. There are not gigantic lizard beasts hidden on this tiny island."

"How do you know the island is tiny?" Katara asks, cocking a doubtful eyebrow.

Azula hesitates. "I don't. I just made an educated guess."

"Educated how?"

"The estimated location and the fact that it's deserted."

Katara sits down and sighs. "Except for the Ruthless Sun."

"I'm hoping that they aren't still here. I don't want to deal with them."

"What happened to the perfect prodigal princess who can _conquer empires on her own with her fancy blue fire?_ " Pause. "You're scared."

Azula does not look as offended as Katara assumed she would be.

For the first time, the princess makes genuine eye contact with her former prisoner and says, "If you knew them, you would be too."


	2. Lost

**Chapter Two:** Lost

* * *

Katara collects water from the streams on the walls.

It seems purer than the fresh water outside, but she still does not trust it. But no matter how reluctant the girls are, they have to drink something as they keep walking. Both starvation and exhaustion kicked in twenty minutes ago and the girls are too weak to go much further. It might be a cave. They might be walking to a dead end where they die.

They resume their march. Both have thoughts they should voice, but talking takes too much energy.

An infinite amount of time later, their salvation comes in the form of rays of light. They exchange an excited glance as they walk towards the candles with all the strength they have left. When they peer through the narrow tunnel indented in the cave wall, they see an encampment of red tents, weapons, food and armor pieces.

Azula gestures for Katara to follow as she shimmies through. She rubs her chapped lips together and forces herself to take cover behind a large boulder. It is the Ruthless Sun, but no one is here.

"Let's go," Azula hisses.

Katara agrees with her enemy. The need for food definitely is an equalizer.

They scamper out and with very light steps, collect any supplies that they can carry. They leave the armor and weapons, but take some survival gear, all the food they can shove into two stolen bags, and skins for water. Katara hooks one to her hip and quickly fills it with the cave-wall water.

She feels much safer now.

Azula feels the opposite.

The campfire is still warm.

"They'll be back," Azula whispers, pointing at the tunnel. "We have to hide."

"We can take them," Katara says fiercely. "They must have a ship that we could steal. We could take anything we need from this place if we defeat them all and—"

"I know trusting me is unwise, but you need to in this case," Azula crisply insists.

Katara pauses. "The Ruthless Sun isn't on your cousin's side, are they? They're on yours. Why are you afraid of being seen by your own soldiers?"

"That's absurd. I _told you_ that they work for my cousin and he is not a kind man. If they were on my side, they would be loyal to their princess and help her escape," Azula purrs. She sounds confident, but Katara does not believe her.

Azula's fear cannot be of combat, seeing as she has _blue fire_ and Katara saw her take down an entire team of rebels before capturing Katara. It is something else, and Katara truly believes Azula has a connection to these brutal raiders that she has not shared.

They return through the tunnel and hide in such dim light that they cannot make out each other's faces. The two girls eat more fiercely and eagerly than they ever have before in their lives. Having their mouths full means that there will be no bickering or dreadful conversation.

"They got in," Azula says when she pushes her rations away from herself. "They must have a way out. Dangerous sadists or not, at least we're not trapped in this cavern."

Katara shrugs. She is too busy sympathizing with Sokka's love for food.

[X]

The girls have been silent for some time when they hear voices approaching.

They both tense and hesitantly peer through the small tunnel. The Ruthless Sun has returned from whatever they were doing, and are joking around. One woman is particularly loudmouthed, and a guy beside her laughs so hard Katara thinks he might cause a cave in.

"Alright, boys," announces the loud woman, "you have seven hours of precious sleep, you got me? Don't waste it."

Azula glances at Katara. They share the mutual realization that they only need to wait ten hours or less for the Ruthless Sun to leave their hideout. That sounds uncomfortable, but better than the fight that could ensue.

Maybe they have a chance.

[X]

Katara has dozed off against the slick, cool wall when Azula shakes her brutally. She shoves at the princess and tries to come to terms with her surroundings.

 _'What?'_ Katara mouths.

Azula nods towards the tunnel. The Ruthless Sun has left, and they can see sunlight shining on their abandoned supplies.

The two girls must abandon much of their stolen food. Their clothes have been half-lost due to the heat and shipwreck, and so they lack for pockets. Some of it can be slid into bandeaus but most of it is too bulky, slippery or big. They really wish they had stolen bags from The Ruthless Sun too.

Azula and Katara exchange a furtive glance and hope for the best. Escaping the cavern will be harder than making it through the jungle; of that they are certain.

Princess Azula smirks as she shimmies through the tunnel, Katara not far behind. They both creep as quietly as they can past the camp, not stopping to restock – that would be too risky – and then start walking towards the blindingly white sunshine ahead.

"Ambush!" Azula snaps before it even begins. Katara has been on the other side of ambushes before, and they _never_ end well.

Katara runs forward and rolls away from the orange fire flying at her face. Azula runs, tendrils of blue flame sweeping across the walls and burning the dust. The acrid smoke of Azula's attacks almost suffocates Katara, but she keeps herself together as her eyes adjust to the light and she sees twice as many Ruthless Sun as were sleeping here.

How many are onthis island?

Katara grabs water from the walls and impales one man grabbing at her with an ice blade. She then keeps running, not even worrying about if he died or not. Katara has avoided murdering a single person in her life, and she does not want to start now.

The cavern groans and rumbles. It begins to fall apart on top of the battle between two fourteen year olds and thirty buff soldiers.

A man three times her size manages to grab Azula when she is forced to dodge a falling rock. She burns him in a bright burst of blue and he releases her, groaning from the pain.

"That's her!" the loud woman shouts and more to herself, "This is like finding the Lake Laogai Monster! _Get her_!"

Azula's heart drops into her stomach.

She keeps running as the loud woman throws powerful blasts of fire in her direction. There is a reason this lady seems to be in charge of the operation; she is strong and she thinks quickly under pressure.

Azula slides under one man and he stumbles onto her face. She runs past him, burning two women brutally without a second thought. She runs out to the edge of the cavern and wobbles to a stop. Katara catches up with her, panting.

"Jump!" Katara shrieks with wide eyes.

"It's a long way down," Azula whispers.

"Into water! Jump!" Katara's eyebrow twitches.

Azula vehemently shakes her head. "No! I can kill them all myself. I was trained for situations like this."

Katara watches Azula begin to turn around before setting two hands on her back and shoving her off the side of a cliff. That was extremely satisfying, but Katara does not have much time to enjoy it before she must follow the princess.

The Ruthless Sun begins to climb down, but it will take them more time. Katara plunges beneath the water and swims out of their sight. The arrows hitting the surface are not something she wants to have flying at her head.

She sees Azula and finds her pinned against a bank. Katara grabs her by the arm and pulls her onto shore.

"Keep running!" Katara orders through her gasps.

Azula suddenly slaps her across the face, and then runs ahead of Katara as she rubs the agonizing mark in shock. Katara follows her in a complete panic.

They use the river as a marker as they march deeper and deeper into the unknown.

[X]

The girls have vanished and Akio is livid. Her men should have been able to take on those two little wenches.

Akio looks at her soldiers. They are too out of breath for a pursuit of two small teenage girls who can't be more than fourteen. She stands up on a crate and crosses her arms.

"We are going to capture those girls, if it is the last thing any of you do. I do not care if any of you die; this is worth more than your lives. The princess is obvious; the one true Fire Lord will pay top gold for a living waterbender. Kill the waterbender if you must; take the princess alive and mostly unharmed. Do I make myself clear?"

"It shouldn't be hard," says Deshi.

Akio frowns. "It shouldn't be hard? I think I saw you _faceplant_ while _chasing_ them. The princess is a highly trained soldier with blue freaking fire and we have no idea what a waterbender is capable of! I'm going to group you into small teams and you will spread out. This isn't a very big island, and we have enough decent men to cover it."

"And how exactly do we drag them kicking and screaming back here?" Ichiro demands.

That makes her roll her amber eyes.

"I will give you adequate supplies for taking prisoners. Let's get started before they get too far away," she bluntly orders.

[X]

Meanwhile, Azula and Katara stop, panting and falling onto their knees. They have made it out of the thick jungle, but it has left its marks all over their skin in cuts and bruises. Azula has been trained to the point of breaking bones and bleeding, and she has never run that fast before. Katara lies down with her face pressed against the dirt.

It is hotter than she had hoped.

"I cannot believe you pushed me off of that cliff," Azula snarls. "You will pay for that, peasant. As soon as you aid me in escaping this island, you will pay for that."

Katara groans. "Fine, whatever. I accept my divine punishment, your worship."

Azula rolls her eyes and rubs at the worst of her cuts.

"Look at those ruins," Azula says as soon as she acclimates herself to her surroundings. "We could hide in there easily."

Katara sits up and nods, rubbing the filth from her face and bending the sweat off of herself. She does not offer to help Azula with the same thing, and Azula does not ask.

They stand up and force themselves to walk into the tall but crumbling walls that must have once been a city.

Once they get deeper inside, Katara realizes the walls are closing in.

"What is this?" Katara demands, looking around the ruins. They are in much too deep. This is not good, this is not good, this is not good.

"A labyrinth, probably," Azula airily says with a careless shrug.

"A what?" Angrily, Katara cocks an eyebrow.

"It's a maze that—"

"I _know_ what a labyrinth is. I was asking why there is a labyrinthon _this_ _island_. How do you know this is one anyway?"

"Firstly, I have no idea why there's one on this island. Secondly, I read the word labyrinth written on the stone a few minutes ago."

"Wait – you can read these ancient squiggles?"

"They are Fire Nation language, so, yes. I had to learn it before the Civil War broke out. I think this is one of those Dragon Temples. They had these tests of worthiness where people had to carry fire through a maze of sorts in order to get to the place with the… dragon stuff, I guess."

Katara cannot believe this. "The… dragon stuff, you guess?"

"I don't honestly know what would be in a Dragon Temple."

"Maybe dragons," Katara suggests.

"Yes, that is a possibility. There might be treasure."

"That would could steal?"

Azula glares. "No. I would never deface a Dragon Temple. That's abhorrent."

"You are a murderer and shallow and cruel and kidnapped me and—"

"And even shallow cruel murderers who kidnap whiny water peasants have their limits. I will not _raid_ a Dragon Temple."

Katara touches her necklace. Raid was a poor choice of words on Azula's part, not that the princess has any clue.

"Is that some sort of cultural thing?" Azula inquires, trying to start conversation. She will lose her mind if she does not have something to focus on other than the island.

Katara faintly frowns. "No. Maybe. Well, to the Northern Tribe, but it was my mother's."

"I was about to ask about the difference between the Northern and Southern Tribes was, but then I remembered that I don't care." Pause. "Oh, wait, the difference is that the Southern Tribe is pathetic and I thought they were as extinct as the Sun Warriors."

Katara contemplates words for a fleeting second before tackling Azula to the ground on a whim. She quickly recoils in order to avoid getting her face burnt off by Azula's flying fist.

"What was _that_?" Azula shrieks.

"How would you feel if the Water Tribes killed people you loved?" Katara's eyes glisten from her tears.

Azula shrugs. "I don't love anyone, so I cannot possibly imagine."

"You'd be pretty angry if they took your mother from you like the Fire Nation did to me."

"I would be pretty _unfazed_ by that. You forget that half of my family and countrymen are trying to kill me on a regular basis for no fault of my own."

Katara snarls, "You are even worse of a person than I thought you were, which I didn't think was possible."

"Well, that's you underestimating the sheer wickedness of my ethnicity yet again. Now, do you want to find your way out of this place or not? Because I think you also underestimate the magnitude of the Ruthless Sun's desire to disembowel us both," Azula purrs with a smug smirk.

Katara stands up and brushes herself off, while Azula momentarily lingers.

"Let's keep going," Katara says, blinking back her tears and resuming her march.

The stone walls progressively get taller as the girls walk, and they reach the first fork in the maze after nearly ten minutes of silence.

"Well, any hints, princess?" Katara asks, glancing around for any writing or clues. Nothing evident shows up.

"We go left," Azula orders.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

Katara shakes her head, but she follows Azula. "Are there any fun facts about the Sun Warriors that could help us out in this situation?"

"Well, they probably wanted people to be able to get to the center somehow." Azula stops walking. "They probably had a way for the sages to get in."

Katara grunts. "We're already in the maze. That's no help."

"This place is half-rubble. We could try to cut through. We got through that little tunnel in the cave. There are gaps in the walls," Azula says, glancing around at the walls.

Katara rubs her chin and decides, " _That_ is a decent idea. I should have known you would suggest a way to cheat."

"Cheating tends to be the best way to win." Azula smirks.

Katara rolls her eyes and starts scanning for a gap. Azula finds one first, and the two girls quickly enter it and come out on the other side. They walk for a few feet over the lush grass, and find a broken statue. It looks older than time itself.

Azula kneels to examine it. She burns the grass that had grown over it, and reveals markings. It takes her some time to decipher them and she sits back once she does.

"What does it say?" Katara asks.

"Nothing useful. We should keep cutting through." She is not quite lying.

They make it through four more walls before they reach a standstill. This barrier is eerily intact.

"I think we should set up camp. They might have lost track of us in the maze. I'm way too tired to think about a way through this one," Katara suggests and Azula considers hitting her with lightning; _no one_ gives Azula orders.

"Do you understand that I am a princess?" Azula asks coolly, staring at Katara like she is a sea slug.

"Yes," Katara says coldly as she sits down on rubble. She does not know if she can handle another day with this girl.

"Then stop ordering me around. I have the divine right to rule, and I am therefore our leader. I will manage to escape this island, and if you behave properly, I will take you with me."

"Well, you don't lack for confidence," Katara mutters as she rolls her eyes at the moon.

Azula sits down and decides not to make a fire. It would draw too much attention, and the night is warm.

Conversation, conversation. "Where did you learn to waterbend? My grandfather said he made you people extinct."

"Not the North Pole. We had Master Pakku helping us with the rebellion. I had to… coerce him to teach me, but he did. I learned to fight, but…" Katara frowns.

"What?"

"I never learned to properly heal." Katara regrets it so much now that she is in this situation.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just didn't. I was the only waterbender who needed training, and we did have healers from the North Pole, but none of them wanted to teach me. They thought it was bad that I wanted to learn to fight like the boys and never taught me."

"Hmm. You savages really are pathetic. In the Fire Nation, we have long moved past sexism. That's why we won." Azula crosses her arms with a self-satisfied glint in her gilded eyes.

"And your technology and other stuff that you only had because Sozin invaded everywhere. We had to learn to survive while you people became so _cultured_ , or however you put it. I think I'm more cultured than you, and your cruelty and immature obsessions with yourself. I value life. Every life."

Azula scoffs. "Now, that's no way to win a war. People die."

Katara plucks a blade of grass and begins to pick it apart with her fingers. "They do, but I wish I could save them all."

"That's reckless and insane," Azula curtly says.

Silence.

Katara decides to ask the question that has been burning inside of her for hours. "So, why did the Ruthless Sun compare you to a mythical creature?"

"Oh, my power is legendary," Azula purrs.

Katara glowers. "Give me a straight answer."

"I don't have one. Perhaps I am just difficult to catch."

"I'll humor your lie about them working for your cousin. Why does he want you so badly?"

"Reasons. I don't know."

They are in silence after that.

Azula is difficult to read; Katara gives her a slight benefit of the doubt. But that does not stop her from glancing around at the maze nervously.

She has a very bad feeling about this.


	3. Sacred

**Chapter Three:** Sacred

* * *

Katara dreams of dragons.

They swoop around her like a cage of bright, beautiful colors that glisten like gemstones. Katara tries to step away from them but they speed up and make her stumble. Through the gaps, Katara sees Sokka stumbling in a fight he cannot win. She tries to rescue him but cannot manage.

The minute she passes the dragons, claws dig into her arms and drag her through the floor into the darkness.

Katara wakes with the jolt of falling that makes her body flinch.

Azula is still on her watch, basking in the sunlight as she practices. Katara cannot help but watch the flames that remind her of the dragons in her dream. It is strange to see how Azula can be so… peaceful.

"We should get going," Katara says, making Azula stumble. If looks could kill. "You said the Ruthless Sun would stop at nothing, so let's start trying to find a way out of this maze."

"I had a dream last night," Azula says and Katara cocks an eyebrow. That is not abnormal. "It was about this maze. We have to leave escaping up to change anyway; why not give my dream a try?"

Katara licks her lips. She cannot disagree with that.

"What did you dream exactly?" Katara asks and Azula ignores her. She sighs and gets up onto her feet. This princess is somehow a thousand times harder to travel with than her brother. Katara did not think such a thing was possible.

Azula starts walking towards the fork in the walls that they camped near. They couldn't make a decision in the darkness, but now the daylight makes it slightly less intimidating.

Princess Azula dreamt of translucent souls. They were dead and gone, and she was in a crypt, trapped by them and pained by their voices making demands that she could not comprehend. The crypt was a dragon tomb, Azula realized when she woke, and the dead were lurking inside of it.

She starts quickly moving, going on her gut instinct.

Azula does not say, because she knows she would sound insane, but she is following whispers that Katara does not seem to hear.

She pursues them through the maze. Katara watches the number of statues increase and the maze walls widen. It could either be a good thing or a bad thing; she does not know which one.

It turns out to be a good thing; the girls reach a central building. Katara walks towards it too fast and screams when the ground falls out from under her. Azula reaches out, grabs her arm and pulls her back onto her feet.

They lock eyes and ignore that gesture. It was for survival and survival alone.

Azula jumps over, Katara jumps over, and they remain wary as they proceed towards the golden, overgrown pyramid.

Darts shoot out from a wall and Katara saves Azula this time.

They see two broken ropes that probably triggered other traps once upon a time, but do not face any more trouble on their walk.

"It's a Dragon Temple," Azula announces as a chill washes over her. Her skin prickles with goosebumps when she sees the recognizable writing and statues. "Sozin, he destroyed many of them, and other warriors destroyed more trying to kill young dragons. Cowardice. It's cowardice to kill an adult one as well, but it disgusts me."

"Young dragons?" Katara asks, although she realizes it.

"Dragon Temples are manmade dragon nests." Azula says exactly what Katara was thinking. "We can take shelter in there. Hopefully the Ruthless Sun will not make it through the maze."

The girls run now, traps be damned.

[X]

Katara understands Azula's awe once she enters the temple. The architecture itself stuns her, but the ornate carvings and paintings make her softly gasp. In the center of the room, a slab of rock made for sacrifice rests undisturbed by time.

"This is amazing," Katara openly admits. She feels no shame about appreciating Fire Nation beauty. "This is _amazing_."

"I noticed," Azula coldly replies as she walks towards the slab. She sits in front of it to catch her breath and get her bearings. Her head spins with everything she knows about Dragon Temples, and how she has always wanted to see one. Now she sits inside of one and can only think about how she can best defeat the soldiers that pursue her.

"We need water bad," Katara says. She frowns. "That should be our first priority."

Azula opens her mouth to agree before she feels a humming deep inside of her. The whispers had stopped, but now she feels a very powerful urge to go across the room. Katara watches her as if she is crazy – and perhaps she is – but she keeps going until she finds a half-concealed set of stairs going down into what must be the deserted nest.

Glancing up at Katara, "You ought to accompany me into the catacombs," Azula orders.

Katara laughs. "I would rather put out a campfire with my face."

Sharply, Azula retorts, "I can arrange that for you."

[X]

Akio addresses her soldiers after they come up short on pursuing the valuable targets. The Ruthless Sun always has been loyal to money and money alone, and those two girls are worth a fortune. Enough to buy three islands this size or live comfortably for the rest of one's life.

"I am splitting you all into threes. Three against two seems like fair odds, even against the princess. This island is too large to not break into the smallest groups possible. To sweeten the pot, whichever trio that brings me the girls will received half of everyone's else's share."

That makes the men and women stir with some excitement. Akio smiles faintly to herself.

Akio continues, "You all have the chi-blockers to protect you from the princess and carry her in. You have all of your equipment and weapons that you can carry. They have nothing but what's left of their clothes and their bending. I know that the bounty for a living waterbender is astronomical, but she is expendable if you can get the princess through ending her. Princess Azula is to be left as unharmed as possible, or she goes significantly down in value. By significantly, I mean we're more likely to be imprisoned or executed than rewarded."

She silently moves on to split them into trios based on strengths.

Those girls are already hers.

[X]

In the Dragon Temple, Katara says, "Azula, we can't go down there. I am _not_ getting trapped in another cave in my lifetime."

"You have no curiosity at all?" Azula feels a magnetic pull _dragging_ her down into the catacombs, but, of course, Katara is whiny and self-righteous yet again. "What if I go down and you keep watch? You do not even have to save me if I look on the verge of death."

Katara shrugs. "Go ahead. I'll be up here trying to rest before you nearly get us killed again."

Azula gladly abandons her companion and delves down into the tunnel. She lights a palm when the darkness consumes her, and sees how the carvings on the walls intensify. The pull becomes so much stronger and she turns to pursue it.

She stops at a door that requires bending to open. It requires more than one person, _or_ a well-trained prodigy. Azula does not hesitate or think about the consequences when she fills the room with bright blue fire.

Azula sweats from the heat of her own flames, but she does not release them until she hears the groaning of the door. The flames cease and Azula walks through the entrance without thinking twice. She wonders where her higher thinking went.

But she quickly stops mentally chastising herself when she sees the room she has entered. Without a doubt, she has never seen anything as beautiful as what surrounds her. The stunning gemstones adorn the engraved golden walls. Azula looks up and sees the sunlight coming from a carved opening above the chamber.

After the awe fades, Princess Azula sees the center of the room. Three stones. She approaches them cautiously, trying to avoid any traps like the ones she and Katara encountered earlier, but this room seems to be guarded only by the strong door.

She gets closer to the three stones and sees that they are… eggs. Or at least are carved in the image of them. Maybe they could be fossilized or unfertilized or anything that could explain them remaining unhatched for centuries. They seem worth taking.

Blue, red, green. Azula reaches to the blue one in the center; it draws her attention first. As soon as she picks it up she notices the room becoming darker. Then she hears the voices and Katara screaming.

That cannot be anyone but the Ruthless Sun. Azula has no choice but to confront them. She needs to bring this egg. She _must_ bring it, and she _must_ protect it. Azula wants to take them all, but she grabs the red one for Katara to hold. Azula kicks off of the pedestal and burns her way through the skylight.

She sets the eggs behind the sacrificial slab and starts throwing lightning.

Katara looks shocked. Shocked and lying on the ground, unable to move. Azula does not know where that came from, but she gives these two ladies her worst.

Then she sees a man running at her. He looks large enough to snap her spine if she were not nimble and on fire.

One woman grabs at Azula and the princess seizes her arm, snapping it and then burning her face. She collapses, motionless on the stone floor. Azula moves on to the next and does not succeed at taking her down; she brings out a weapon that Azula does not recognize. An identical one is hooked to Katara, the man has just crushed one of the statues with his bare hands, and Azula decides that now would be an appropriate time to run.

She races back to the catacombs; she thinks she can lure them into the dragon egg chamber and take them out where brute strength is a disadvantage.

They pursue her and her dehydration starts to make her dizzy. Not the time, not the time. Azula runs into the chamber and runs to the back of the room, beneath the shadows. The two Ruthless Sun soldiers stop, awestruck like she was.

Azula takes down the woman with a bolt of lightning. She moves to hit the man, but he is walking towards the egg that Azula had to abandon.

"Are you going to—" _break that_.

He does not; he grabs it and Azula lunges to stop him from further defiling this sacred place, but he is gone in a flash, slamming the immovable door behind him so that she cannot easily follow.

Katara. Azula does not want to think about that girl's fate if Azula does not do something, so she repeats her stunt with the pedestal to get into the temple.

"Did you see where he went?" Azula gasps out.

Katara glares. Azula rips the strange stone weapon off of her and she very shakily manages to sit up and lean against the slab.

"Why do you care? He bolted like you were outside or something."

"He stole something." Azula coughs, and coughs, and saliva drips from her mouth. Katara thinks she might vomit, but she holds it together.

The princess grabs the two eggs and breathes a sigh of relief when she finds them unharmed.

"These are dragon eggs. Probably without dragons in them, of course, but dragon eggs all the same. There were three. He took one."

"Why do we care? We got lucky that he found something else expensive to steal and left us alone," Katara says. Her voice quavers.

"We have to get that egg back."

Katara laughs. "Not in a _trillion years_."

"Stealing their ship would be just as difficult. I still plan to steal it, of course, but we have to get the egg first."

"They are hunting us down. We have to get out of here. If we get an opportunity to take the egg, you can do it, but I am not going out of my way to save a shiny fossil," Katara manages to say. "Let's find water and move on."

"You will help me carry the red egg."

"Sure; it seems worth taking. But I think it goes without saying that I'm abandoning it if my life depends on it."

Azula sits down beside Katara and examines the stone.

"What is this?" Azula asks.

"You don't know?"

"I am not up to date on Fire Nation technology." Azula hesitates. "Especially not my cousin's technology."

"Tell me the truth about the Ruthless Sun. They are on your dad's side. I can feel it."

"They are loyal to money and money alone. There are countless people who would pay astronomical amounts of money for me. I have to admit I took you prisoner because a waterbender is worth so much. Much more than any other rebel. We're a fortune on feet."

"So, they aren't working for your cousin?" Katara smugly clarifies.

"I believe he would pay the most for me." Azula knows very well that Ozai would pay more, but Katara is a temporary acquaintance who has no need to know that.

"Who was the guy with you when you captured me? He grabbed me, not you. You were too busy killing my friends."

"Some barely-tolerable person that I have had the displeasure of relying on. Just like you," Azula says through her teeth.

"That was a touchy subject. Is he your _boyfriend_?"

"No." Something occurs to Azula when Katara asks that absurd question.

This is _all_ Zuko's fault. She is going to _throttle_ him if she ever sees his mutilated face again. The mental image of murdering her brother for getting her into this mess is incredibly satisfying.

Of course, Katara ruins that brief happiness.

"Tell me who he is. Come on. We could die out here."

"I am not planning on dying, and I am not giving you any information about me. I have no reason to discuss my _feelings_ with some water peasant."

"I'm basically a princess."

"Of what? An igloo?"

"No. My dad is the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe," Katara bluntly states. She cannot help but roll her eyes when Azula smirks.

"Which is not real anymore thanks to my grandfather."

"I could say those exact words about your dad. I am _exactly_ as royal as you are."

"Well, that's… shut up." Azula walks away to go find water with the odd weapon in one hand and the blue egg cradled in her other arm.

Katara laughs and shakes her head.


	4. Rain

**Chapter Four:** Rain

* * *

The island is hot, but when it rains, it might as well be the South Pole

Unsurprisingly, Azula takes the freezing cold far worse than Katara does. As she sits inside of the Dragon Temple, drenched in the rain, she shakes like a leaf in autumn. Katara watches Azula tremble and hears her teeth chatter as she curls up in a ball on the stone floor and tries to rest. She attempted a shield from the raindrops, but she became too tired to keep it up.

The ceiling does not protect them in the slightest. It barely blocks the downpour.

"Do you want what's left of my coat?" offers Katara. Azula looks like she might die before the storm ends.

"You had a coat?" Azula asks, her words distorted by her chattering teeth.

"Yeah. It's… this strip of my clothes." Katara holds up a chunk of blue fabric with a grimace.

Azula eyes it with disdain for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I am completely f-f-fine and have n-n-o need of your assistance."

Katara cocks an eyebrow.

"I have never seen someone shake as hard as you're shaking right now in my life, and I once saw my friend lose her parka in a snowstorm," she remarks. She glances at the ceiling and has to blink the rain out of her cobalt eyes.

"I said I was fine, peasant!" Azula snaps, recoiling into herself. It does not help.

"Stay positive. At least we don't have to worry about dying of thirst," she says, gesturing loosely at the stone bowls they left out. "And if the Ruthless Sun soldiers are as pathetic when it comes to cold water as you are, we'll probably live through the night."

Even though Azula's trembling is extremely funny, Katara does have to admit that her military training still shows. Princess Azula may come from a background of wealth and frivolity, but Katara is grateful for her help. She could do without her talking and her personality, but if Katara wound up fighting those soldiers on her own, she would be chained up and abused and sold as a novelty or science experiment.

Both girls are competent at survival, but the rain has punched them in the gut.

They meet eyes for a moment and clearly see that they need each other to escape.

"It's probably warmer underground," Azula suggests, nodding at the lower level of the temple. "We obviously need to sleep in this temple since we're not getting anywhere in this weather."

"I told you that I'm not going in there," Katara says. This temple is the creepiest place she has been in her life, and she would rather brave the cold for a few more hours than face those depths.

"Why?" demands Azula. "I _would_ go alone, but I don't like what happened last time."

"Because it seems stupid!" Katara snaps. She feels sick about her fear, but she also has faced far too much in the past three days. "We don't know what's down there!"

"Up here is hypothermia and potential d-d-drowning." Azula looks at her cold and soaking hand. She stands up. "I am going down there. Screw this."

Katara exhales softly. She knows her reluctance stems purely from stubbornness at this point.

"Why don't you just build a fire, Miss Firebender," Katara says, curling up tighter.

"Because it is soaking wet in here and I am…" Azula blushes through her pallor.

"Too cold to bend? You're too cold to bend, aren't you?" Katara snorts and coughs.

"I am _dying of hypothermia_." Azula looks at her numb fingers. "I am sorry that I am completely unable to control my body temperature or build a fire right now. Rain is _hot_ where I am from."

Katara has never heard of hot rain, but she has never been to the Fire Nation either.

"I'm already babysitting this shiny fossil for you," she protests, gesturing at the red stone halfway submerged in the puddles. "I think it's creepy and you found it down there."

Azula sighs and sets her hand on the blue egg cradled on her lap. "Now I'm thinking about how much we need to get that egg back from the Ruthless Sun…"

"Not a priority," Katara says, groaning.

" _Yes_ , a priority!" Azula shouts over the downpour. "I am not leaving this island without it."

"Well, I _am_! It's a _rock_!" Katara sits straight up and glares.

Azula sighs. They both fall silent for some time.

Finally, the princess makes a move. "If you go down into those chambers with me I will tell you my relationship with the Ruthless Sun."

"Your promises are cheaper than dirt," Katara says. "Cheaper than wet dirt."

"Mud? You could have just said mud."

"Shut up!"

Silence, again.

Azula breaks it, again. "That boy who captured you with me was my brother."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Katara demands.

"I am being honest about something to prove that – ugh, I'm going alone!" Azula stands up and narrowly avoids slipping on the soaked floor. She walks to the stairs and Katara remembers her situation earlier today.

She sighs and follows the princess.

[X]

They pass the main chamber; the skylight had soaked it. Delving deeper makes Katara uncomfortable, but she can feel the warmth and her hair is already beginning to dry. They find a small room and slip inside. It is creepy, but it is dry.

"What was this room used for?" Katara asks, glancing around.

"I have no idea. I am educated, not all-knowing," Azula says, sitting down against the wall. She still trembles and the warmth stings her skin, but she knows it will pass quickly, unlike the storm above. "Let me warm up and I will tell you everything."

"Tell me now," Katara insists.

Katara stares until Azula meets her gaze.

"You want my answer? Fine." Azula sighs. She does not know why it matters anymore. "I'm… I am… I'm wanted by the Fire Nation. Not just my cousin's side. My father too. There are three factions in this world, and there is a price on my head in all of them."

She does not usually tell the truth like that, and it makes her skin crawl. She does not want to admit any weakness to this water peasant, but she also knows it is wiser to gain Katara's trust than to enrage her further. Steps towards a temporary partnership work in her favor, dislikable as Katara may be.

"What did you do?" Katara inquires, her eyes wide.

"I ran away." That statement is a lie, but Azula has no need to explain the circumstances around her exodus from her father's empire.

"I won't ask why. I don't need to know. I guess both sides of the Civil War want you bad enough that you're scared?"

"I am not _scared_."

"Then why are we hiding?" Katara asks, slowly shaking her head.

"This conversation is pointless. I am going to try to sleep until this horrible rain ends."

Katara watches Azula cross the room and curl up.

Maybe she sleeps. Maybe she doesn't.

Why should Katara care?

[X]

Azula wakes up with her cheek stuck to the floor. She sits up and rubs the back of her neck.

"Katara, Katara, wake up," she hisses, poking the waterbender. Katara does not budge. Azula pokes her again. Again, harder this time. Harder the next time. She pauses, heats her finger, and stabs it nail first into Katara's neck.

Katara wakes up screaming, trashing her hand around. It would make contact with Azula's face if the princess did not pull off a narrow dodge.

"Why did you do that?" Katara demands, glaring.

"You wouldn't wake up," Azula says, standing up and massaging her wrists. That was the worst night of sleep she has ever suffered. "We have to leave this place. The Ruthless Sun knows we're here. I think we should find somewhere to hide and plan our attack."

"Our attack?" Katara asks, now on her feet.

Azula grabs the blue egg. "Yes. We are going to use their resources to escape, but we need to take them down methodically. I believe we are more than capable."

"If it gets us off this island, I'm in," Katara says. She sighs before taking the red fossil. Why did she agree to this?

They walk up into the temple and run towards the shore.

The forest puts up no resistance, and they make it to the beach before they even run out of breath. They pace around until they find the perfect hiding spot – an alcove that can easily be camouflaged.

Dunes stand nearby and rocks on the other side of the strip of sand.

Perfect.

[X]

In the early afternoon, Azula lounges in the sun as Katara climbs a series of trees.

Katara glares down at the most unhelpful person she has ever met in her life. Azula _suns herself_ while Katara _sweats half to death_.

"Oh, those ones look good! Get those ones instead!" Azula calls up.

"If you give me one more order…!" Katara exclaims before dropping down her final branch.

As she returns to the ground, Katara catches her breath and says, "So, now to figure out how to fight the Ruthless Sun. I think we can do it. If we find food and…"

"Before we take them down, we need to scout them out. We need to know how many there are, where their ship is, where their supplies are and anything else I think of once I've eaten." Azula glances around the beach. "You're Water Tribe. Can you catch fish?"

"I can catch fish. I'm great at catching fish." Katara almost groans when she realizes how much she sounds like Sokka right now. She realizes he probably thinks she is dead or captive in the Fire Nation, and she does not know which is worse.

"Go catch fish then. I'll be here setting up this ridiculous shelter and figuring out our plan to raid the Ruthless Sun."

"Yes. I would love to see you _do_ something, because all you seem to do is run your mouth."

Katara storms off.

Azula sighs and starts gathering the palm leaves.

[X]

Katara walks along the beach, wishing she actually knew how to do this. The solitude feels nice, but the pressure to figure out fishing feels dreadful.

She seeks clams first, because they can't move. After a long walk, she finds three and her heart skips a beat. _Yes_! Katara would do anything to _eat_. She holds up the sharp rock she gathered earlier and hopes this works; she has only seen other people do it before. She struggles for some time before she opens one of the three clams and smiles. Katara starts to cut out the meat before her finger touches it and she drops the rock.

These are better cooked. These are _definitely_ less gross cooked.

She tries to close the shell and grimaces. Oops.

All she can do is juggle her catches until she gets back to where Azula has… kind of made a shelter. Katara is impressed that the prissy princess did anything at all.

"What is _that_?" Azula demands, gazing at the goo.

"Fish. It's edible." _Probably_. "You start a discreet fire—"

Azula crosses her arms. "A _discreet_ fire, you say? I was planning on making a _bonfire_."

"Please, stop that for five minutes," Katara snaps as her eyes flash.

"Did you catch any real fish?" Azula asks, sitting down beneath the shade of the branches Katara harvested singlehandedly.

"This is real fish." Katara sighs at Azula's expression. "I'm so hungry right now. At least start the fire so I can cook for both of us, which is really nice of me, you should remember. I could let you starve or get sold by the Ruthless Sun, but I'm helping you live."

"If you want to be my servant, you can be my servant, by all means." Azula sparks the fire in the tiny pit she made while Katara was hunting for gooey rocks.

Katara is proud of herself for tolerating that comment. She should win a medal for breathing the same air as this girl.

"Do you know how to sew?" Azula asks as she sits down under the camouflaged cover. Katara looks up at her and exasperatedly rolls her eyes. "Do you? Because I think the current state of our clothing might be a hindrance at this point. I am trying to focus on our defeat of the Ruthless Sun at the moment."

Katara does examine the tattered blue cloth awkwardly stretched on her tan skin. Azula seems just as bad, if not worse.

"Icansew," Katara mutters in one breath.

[X]

That night, Katara notices how Azula sleeps with that blue rock under her arm. It is by far the oddest thing about the princess, and it makes Katara looks at her own red one in a different light. Maybe it does have more importance than she thinks. She sits up and pulls it closer to herself, but doesn't hold it like a kid holds a stuffed animal. She is not _that_ far gone.

She does not think she will sleep; she does not know if this hiding place is a decent one, or if she will even wake in the morning, but she does pass out from sheer exhaustion.

Tomorrow might be a better day.

[X]

Katara wakes to see Azula setting her precious dragon egg into the small fire pit, and lighting it. She wonders if she still is dreaming. She had nightmares about dragons again and Azula's madness regarding the fossils is weird, to say the least.

"What're you doing?" Katara asks as she sits up and rubs her eye.

"Trying something," Azula slowly replies. Katara notices that she wears her newly modified clothes. They fit nicely; Katara admires her own handiwork for a moment.

"Are you trying to hatch a fossil?" Katara inquires and she takes Azula's silence as a _yes_. "Oh. Is it normal for Fire Nation people to be so into dragons?"

"No," Azula lies. Then she sighs. "Maybe. Do you not feel something _odd_ about these?"

"I feel a rock," Katara replies. Azula shrugs and continues watching her fire. "So, any thoughts about the Ruthless Sun?"

"None yet," Azula says without looking up.

Katara yawns. The sun hurts her eyes. "How long have you been awake?"

"Sunrise," Azula flatly replies.

"Have you gotten anything useful done?"

"I found their camp," Azula casually says.

Katara's lips part at the mention of the Ruthless Sun. "You found their camp?"

"Not a permanent one. Not one for more than four soldiers, I would say," Azula explains, still not lifting her eyes from the fire. "But it's something."

"Take me to it," Katara says.

Azula, for once, does not object to an order.


	5. Traitor

**Chapter Five:** Traitor

* * *

Azula and Katara reach the Ruthless Sun camp and find that it is no longer deserted. They hide behind a thick tree and try to keep their breathing silent. Five soldiers sit around a campfire. Two clean their weapons, one meditates, one warms their hands and the other watches the jungle.

Katara turns to Azula and whispers, "What do you think we should do?"

"I am glad you asked," Azula softly replies. "We have an opportunity to find their base of operations here, and, by extension the egg, their ship, and their leader."

"And how is that?" Katara hisses, doubtfully cocking an eyebrow.

Azula reveals her master plan with, "I will get captured, and you will follow us."

"That seems like a bad idea," murmurs the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe.

Katara has wasted her breath, because Azula bolts out to the campsite without another word. She looks at the ground and picks up Azula's darling blue egg, shoving it into her heavy bag and kneeling deeper behind the boulders.

Azula runs at them and throws three balls of fire that intentionally miss and hit the trees. One of the soldiers tackles her to the ground, knocking the winds out of her before the other hooks metal to her wrists. She feels herself sinking deep into the ground and her head spins.

When she tries to lift her arms, she cannot. The terror of helplessness sets in and she screams. Katara shivers; she has felt that before and knows that even the worst person she has ever met—see: Azula—does not deserve it.

As soon as the Ruthless Sun smothers their fire and starts walking, Katara leaps to her feet.

[X]

Katara tracks the Ruthless Sun through the jungle.

Her brother taught her how to hunt, and, while she never liked killing animals much—she always tried to heal them instead of eat them—the skills are useful now. She follows from the shadows, ready at any moment to fight for her life.

Thankfully, the soldiers do not notice her until they reach the cliffs on the side of the island. The ocean draws Katara's gaze for a few moments. At the beach where she and Azula slept, it lapped languidly at the shore. Here, it assaults the dilapidated stone fortress with a vengeance.

The Ruthless Sun stops in front of the fort—on the dirt path that has no cover for a sneaky waterbender—and one man signals someone in the pigeon-crow's nest. When the gates groan and open, they enter, and before Katara can even pick up her feet to run in, they slide shut. She looks up and sees archers posted on the top of the structure. Katara needs to find a better way in.

She runs down towards the lagoon below. Water always has served her well in life. Katara sees the long drop down. Part of her thinks she should go back and try to find a way around the archers and gate. The other part of her shouts, _JUMP_.

Katara obeys the louder voice, launching off of the dirt and freefalling. into the water. She stifles a scream as she plummets. Once she hits it, she is in her element, and knows she can get into the fort. She swims across the lagoon and finds a small gap in the stone. On one hand, she could get crushed or hit a dead end, on the other, she can bend water and probably escape any tight spot within.

Quickly, Katara dives under the water and swims in, pushing back waves to propel herself. She cannot see in the pitch black darkness and for the first time in her life finds herself wishing for a firebender. She just keeps swimming until her feet hit solid ground. Her neck bends and the back of her head scrapes against the stone, but she starts to wade through the tunnel.

She comes out on the other side and sees a wide room. It does not seem to serve much of a purpose, which gives her hope that no one will be patrolling the area. Katara squints and finds a ladder. While it is in a state of decay, she still manages to climb up and stand on dry land again.

Katara bends the water off of her skin and clothes, and tip-toes towards the illuminated corridor ahead.

[X]`

Inside, Azula sits tethered in an interrogation room. This fortress is older than the Ruthless Sun; it must have been built by the Sun Warriors. The room has what Azula believes to be a sacrificial altar, which has been outfitted to torture people.

Azula and Katara are not the first targets or prisoners on this island, a curious fact. The only conclusion Azula can bring herself to is that the Ruthless Sun has extra ships on patrol, boarding vessels and capturing any information or bodies that are worth a copper piece.

The metal clips dig into her wrists and a feeling of helplessness overwhelms her. It is reminiscent of sleep paralysis, but far worse. She tries to raise her fingers and bend, but she cannot. That is her very worst nightmare.

"Would you like a drink?" asks the woman, entering the room with a small smile. Azula recognizes it; she has seen it on her own face. That is when she realizes that perhaps this was not the best plan in history. "You could probably use one after all you have gone through."

"All _you_ have _put_ me through," Azula corrects, her voice a weak rasp.

"Oh, princess, princess, princess—if you can be called that—your choices led you to this position. We all know it," the woman says.

"You don't know anything," Azula says, again trying to bend. She knew she could not outwit the devices.

"I do, actually. You left to go join your cousin. I think there's a word for that. It starts with a T. Unfortunately, you never made it, and so now everybody wants your head on a platter. If you had just stayed with your father, maybe you could have avoided such a messy situation."

"I was made an offer by my cousin. He clearly thinks I have declined, but I ended up in a bit of a shipwreck, if you cannot tell by my clothes and my company."

"The waterbender."

"Yes. She was my prisoner." Azula looks at that resurfacing smile and her heartrate surges. "One I am absolutely willing to trade to you if you take me to my cousin. I was going to use her to secure my passage, but you could make an awful lot of money selling her."

Azula thinks the offer might still work, but the woman has clearly not made up her mind yet.

"Did you really have plans of joining him?" asks the woman, cocking an eyebrow. "Because it seems very unlike you."

"I do not believe we have met, and so I cannot imagine that you know what is like or unlike me," Azula smoothly says, knowing her lies never fail. She was not going to meet Lu Ten; she was going rogue to take advantage of the power struggle. A rightful heir with her own army…

"Maybe that's true. Why would you leave daddy for someone who wants you dead?"

"Because I wouldn't call him a father. He made me into a weapon but didn't think about the fact that his greatest weapon had a mind of her own. My father tried to chain a dragon."

"So, you thought you'd offer your services as a human weapon to someone with more power?"

"Why not? Lu Ten has a better palace and you have seen my bending and training. I assure you that I am the turning point in this war. When Sozin's Comet comes, I will stand on the winning side."

"Once Sozin's Comet comes you would be discarded. You'd have better luck watching your father rule; he'd throw you more bones."

"You caught me," Azula admits, tired of this already. "I want what everyone else wants; power over an empire. My brother got himself banished. I decided it was an excellent opportunity to end the war and restore balance as I see fit. I even have a name for myself: Dragon Queen Azula. If my brother behaves himself, he can be Fire Lord Zuko."

That is the truth, and Azula's interrogator believes it.

[X]

 _Three years before her assault on the Ruthless Sun Fortress, Katara creeps out of her hiding place with her cheeks hot and her eyes averted. Sokka looks more shameless, but even he shrivels at the sight of their father. They were stowaways on a warship._

 _"_ _Please don't send us home. We can help you," Sokka pleads._

 _Katara clasps her hands, widens her eyes, and nods feverishly._

 _Hakoda initially shakes his head, but Bato changes his mind later that evening._

[X]

Katara runs up the stairs, laying waste to the guards. She honestly wishes she knew precisely where Azula and a boat are, but she will do what she must. At last, Katara grabs a teenage boy by the neck and pins him to the wall with ice.

"Where's the Fire Princess?" she demands, feeling something strange and new swell inside of her. It is a kind of excitement she has never felt before.

"In-interrogation room. Two floors down," he stammers.

Katara nods and runs away. She slows down and quiets her footsteps as she creeps down two flights of stairs and reaches an open door. Katara catches a glimpse of Azula and pins her back to the stone wall.

She hears everything, all about how dear Princess Azula wanted to be Dragon Queen Azula. It all adds up to Katara now, but she would not abandon the girl now. Katara promised she would save Azula, and she will.

Katara barges in. The interrogator spins around and locks eyes with Katara.

"How did you get in here?" demands the Ruthless Sun leader.

"You can ask the trail of soldiers I knocked out once Azula and I are gone," Katara growls, stunned at her own voice. She has never spoken this way before in her life. "Now, are we going to stand around here all day, or are we going to fight?"

The woman eagerly accepts the offer for combat.

Katara dodges forward, avoiding orange flame, and freezes the metal on Azula's wrists. The princess yelps and Katara hisses, "Do _not_ melt that!"

Raising two tendrils of water, Katara holds her own. She makes a note to herself to force Pakku into a hug if she ever sees him again. When she has the chance, she strikes the metal on Azula and breaks the restraints enough for the princess to burn herself free.

Azula stands up and the room turns blue.

The woman staggers back after avoiding shards of ice.

Katara says, "You should let us go if you want to live."

Azula smirks. The woman nods and stands back.

Katara starts to bolt from the room. She stops when she sees Azula is not following her. She turns in time to hear the scream of a person's death. Her eyes flash when the princess leaves the room as if she has done nothing wrong.

The sound of boots hitting against stone stops Katara from informing Azula that they will be parting ways now.

[X]

Katara leads Azula out through a window. The princess does not like the idea of jumping; Katara likes the idea of pushing her and catching her with the water to avoid injury.

They pry themselves onto land and run down to the harbor. It is…

"It's _empty_ ," Azula shrieks, kicking a wooden post. "Why do they not have ships?"

Katara shrugs. Then she sees a glimmer of hope.

"They do." Katara nods towards the beach and she and Azula run down.

"That is a rowboat," Azula dryly says, rolling her eyes.

Katara clenches her fists. "It's the best we can do right now."

"Did you get the yellow egg?" Azula demands and Katara shakes her head.

"No, but I got a boat and I have the blue and red ones. That's way more important."

"We have to go back for it," Azula orders.

" _You_ can start swimming. I'm leaving."

"In a rowboat? You are going to get across the _ocean_ on a _rowboat_?"

"Yes."

"Marvelous." Azula sighs and steps onto the boat.

She feels a strange sense of security when she sees Katara set the bag with the two fossilized eggs down on the wood.

[X]

Rescue finds the girls after a torturous day and night at sea. Azula barely can see as the rope hits her back and voices call down at her and Katara. Princess Azula grabs onto the rope, tucks the blue egg under her arm, and tries to climb. Exhaustion prohibits her from making it very far, so someone pulls her up.

She lies down on the deck of the large metal ship.

Her eyes seek flags for a few moments before she blacks out.

[X]

Azula wakes in a bunk. She thinks she is alone until she hears soft breathing. Princess Azula looks over her shoulder to see Katara fast asleep. The red egg is with her, thank Agni.

"Katara," Azula whispers. "Katara, wake up."

The waterbender stirs and at last turns over to face Azula.

"Yeah?" Katara whispers. She was just getting the first _sleep_ she has had in _ages_ , and Azula interrupted it.

"Who are we with?" Azula breathes, lifting her head from the scratchy pillow.

"Merchants," Katara explains, but Azula feels skeptical.

Azula does not think she will ever trust anyone again. After trying and failing to flip sides for her own personal gain, she has become far too desirable of a target to let her guard down.

"We left that egg," Azula whispers and Katara rolls her eyes. "We need to get it."

"We need to survive; we don't need a fancy relic. I heard your conversation with that woman. I'm really happy you offered to sell me for your own freedom."

"What did you expect?"

Katara sighs exasperatedly. "I didn't understand half of what you talked about, but I do understand that you killed her. She agreed to let us go."

"You killed a whole fortress."

"No, no, I didn't. Not a single person I fought died, because they don't deserve to die."

"Because you are too weak to do it. Now shut up about it. I promise to let you go as soon as we reach shore."

"I don't think I've been your prisoner for a while."'

"Regardless, I will let you go in exchange for rescuing me. You have no need to criticize my highly effective methods."

"What's Sozin's Comet?"

"It's a… well, a comet. It's coming back this summer."

"Back?"

"My great-grandfather used it to wipe out the Air Nomads and start the war. In the simplest of terms, it makes firebenders incredibly powerful. My father and cousin both intend to use it in their own ways. Let me be the first to inform you that that island was nothing compared to what is to come. I also believe we could have gotten that egg."

"You were a paralyzed captive when I saved you. I think you overestimate yourself."

"What are you going to do next?"

"Go back to my family somehow. And you?"

"Keep fighting, I guess."

"You totally keep forgetting I overheard that whole conversation. You're not exactly on any side of this war. What are you fighting for?"

"I am not fighting _for_ anything. I am fighting because I don't know how to do anything else."

Silence.

"Goodnight, Azula," Katara whispers. She does not think the princess meant to be so open, and she does not want to point it out.

They are not friends, even if they did work together to escape that island.

Katara does not fall asleep, but she keeps quiet.

Azula notices a mark on the wall above her bed. Something hung there once. She looks around and reaches back under her bunk. Her fingers grasp coarse cloth; it is a flag.

She takes one look at it and feels sick.

It is the symbol of the Ruthless Sun.


	6. Contact

**Chapter Six:** Contact

* * *

When Katara was a little girl, she lived among the rebels in the Earth Kingdom. It was only a year after the death of her mother that she and Sokka stowed away with their dad. He was protective of them—more than most fathers would be—because he loved his wife so dearly.

Katara saw things that no child should. She watched people bleed out, saw famine in front of her eyes, looked at burnt fields that once sprouted flowers, and learned to fight from a young age in order to protect her from the Fire Nation.

Four years before getting stranded with Azula, she met a girl a bit older than her. She carried a message to Hakoda and rode a furry beast larger than an ostrich-horse but, in the girl's words, not full-grown yet. Katara could not stop staring at the girl who must be about ten or eleven.

That night, the girl stayed, resting her back against her beast.

Katara crept across the camp to sit across from her.

"Hi. What's your name?" asked the young waterbender.

"I'm June," replied the messenger.

"You work for the rebellion?"

"No," sarcastically said June, "I'm a Fire Nation spy."

"Do you have family?"

June sighed. "You want my life story? It's short. My parents got slaughtered with everybody else in my town and I was saved by a passing rebel patrol that lost the battle against the occupying forces. The rebels raised me, but I've never liked playing by the rules so I screw up and get bullshit missions like this one."

Katara nodded. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing at the furry monster.

"This is Nyla. She's a shirshu and makes me the best messenger there ever was," June said proudly, as if the creatures feats were her own.

Katara smiled even if she did not like the girl's demeanor. She did not know that they would become unlikely colleagues over the years.

[X]

Six months ago, Azula stood across from a messenger. She brought news to Ba Sing Se, to Ozai, and stopped in the gardens to give water to her huge creature. Azula crept outside to stand across from her.

"Who are you?" asked Azula.

"Does it matter?"

"I am a princess and I asked you a question."

June rolled her eyes while her back was still turned to Azula, but she faced the girl anyway.

"I have a proposition for you. My friends in the military have been talking about following someone other than Ozai or Lu Ten. They want to follow you. Looking at you, I honestly don't see why they think that, but apparently you're a big deal. If you broke free and went rogue, you could rule the world, and I bet a lot of people would follow you."

Azula knew that, deep inside of her. Ever since her father told her how valuable she was to her cause, her dragon blood and her talented firebending…

She always could have broken free.

"I am loyal to my father. He has always been good to me," said Azula.

June replied, carelessly but with intensity in each word, "Well, a lotta people, even the ones from the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, wanna see balance restored. If we had just one leader end the war as soon as possible, we could that."

"My answer will always be no. I love my father," said Azula. She meant it.

June shrugged. "If you ever want to take me and my friends up on that offer and be Fire Lord Azula, I'll be in Shanxira City."

She and her shirshu left Azula behind.

The princess shook those thoughts from her head. She would not fight against her beloved father. Yet, the idea kept coming back to her. Before bed she would see herself ascending to the throne, or fighting a final battle between three armies and hers prevailing.

But two weeks later her brother was banished. They never got along, but Azula saw opportunity and seized it.

"What do you want from this?" asked Zuko as she snuck out of the palace and latched her pack to an ostrich-horse.

"I want to restore balance, ZuZu," said Azula, knowing she could end the war long before Lu Ten and her father could. "Is that such a crime?"

[X]

In present day, in the city of Ba Sing Se, the home base of Fire Lord Ozai—or so he is called by his followers—two girls walk into the throne room of the palace. Years ago, they welded metal over the stone, tore the murals shreds, scrubbed all traces of the paint from the walls and replaced tapestries with the flag of Ozai's army.

Two girls walk into an audience with the man himself.

He does not greet them, even if they have known him for a very long time. They bow before his throne and he gives only one instruction.

"The Ruthless Sun reported finding my daughter running around on an island," he growls. "Bring her home at any cost. You're the only ones who know her well enough to do it."

They both accept the task.

[X]

Out at sea, "Katara," whispers Azula, kneeling on her bed in the darkness. "Katara, wake up. Katara, wake up. Katara."

Finally, the waterbender opens her cobalt eyes. "I'm _exhausted_. I just fought and rowed a boat and I've earned some sleep."

"We got picked up by the Ruthless Sun, not merchants," she whispers, shoving the flag into Katara's hands. She adjusts the messenger bag with the dragon eggs in it on her body. "Now lose the attitude, because I came very close to not bother with saving you. This is only an act of honor since you were integral in my escape from the island."

Katara mockingly murmurs, "By which you mean I saved your butt."

"By which I mean you followed instructions admirably," Azula hisses, standing as quietly as she can. "Now, we have to sneak to the lifeboat and get to the nearest port."

"I'm going to be stuck with you for the rest of my short life, aren't I?" Katara bitterly mutters as she collects herself and starts sneaking down the corridors with Azula.

"Probably," Azula breathes. "Now, we need to find the yellow egg before we escape."

" _Azula_ ," Katara hisses through her teeth, "the yellow egg is a lost cause. Let's get to the lifeboats together and get out of harm's way. Why do you even want it so much?"

Princess Azula hesitates when she hears that. "I have this strong feeling that I cannot abandon it, or these two. They were calling to me that day and they haven't stopped."

"Once you get back to your brother, you can hunt down the Ruthless Sun and get the yellow egg back. But we're not going to ever get home if we don't get onto a lifeboat _now_ , before they find out we found out who we're with," Katara calmly, evenly whispers, and it reins Azula in.

"Fine," is the last word she utters until they creep down to the lifeboats.

Azula and Katara step into one and Azula severs it with her fire. The splash makes her cringe and Katara yelp. They might have been successful at getting off of the ship, but the Ruthless Sun probably heard that.

Katara begins to bend, getting them away from that ship as fast as she can.

[X]

As fortune would have it, the first port they reach is Shanxira City.

Katara guides Azula through the streets and finds the bar where June told her to leave a particular fake name for her. Azula smirks when she realizes that Katara has led her right where she wants to go.

Now, they both check in with their secret savior.

"My contact is here," Katara eagerly says, excitedly wringing her hands after she successfully leaves the code word. "I'm so glad fate brought us to the best possible place."

Azula crosses her arms after successfully leaving her own. "My contact lives here too. How will yours find us?"

"She just will," Katara chimes, shrugging. She has no reason to explain.

"Mine will too. I suppose it is a race then." Azula knows she will win now.

She has the edge in every kind of way.

[X]

"That cloud looks kinda like a giraffe-fox," Katara remarks, squinting up at the clouds as she lazily runs her fingertips through the cold ocean water. She sits on a little-used dock with Azula, waiting to be found. "What do you think?"

"I already told you that I am not playing this stupid game," snarls Azula, turning even further away from the waterbender. "I am simply waiting for my contact to arrest you."

Katara smiles. She does know that Azula does not want to play, and it is exactly why she will keep going until _her_ contact gets here and arrests _Azula_.

"So, if that guy was your brother, did you ever have a boyfriend?"

"Did you?"

"I asked first."

"Which is why you _answer_ first, to make me trust you enough to reply."

"Fine. No, I've never had a boyfriend but it hasn't stopped Hahn from hitting on me for two years. I'm not spoiled for choice with my group of rebels." Katara grimaces at the very thought. She never has found anyone desirable in her life, which probably has more to do with her array of choices than herself.

"I kind of had sort of a possible girlfriend."

"A kind of, sort of, possible girlfriend?"

"We never got far enough to become more than a… mutual crush that was semi-acted on?"

Katara loudly laughs this time. Azula, her face flushed, shoves Katara into the ocean. As Katara propels herself from her trap, lunging back at her companions, the voice of her contact ceases the altercation.

"You girls are a fun bunch," says June. Azula leaps to her feet. Katara grabs at Azula's wrist to stop her from escaping.

Azula snaps, shaking Katara away, "Oh, don't try to fight me. You can't run."

"No, _you_ can't run!"

"No, _you_ can't run!"

"No, you!"

"No, you!"

"I didn't know I'd end up babysitting toddlers. This is really funny because I'm assuming that you both think you were waiting for different people and now you're both gonna be so embarrassed."

The angry girls exchange a glance, both blushing. It does not take long to figure out that both of their contacts are the same person. Azula simmers with rage while Katara is merely dumbstruck.

"A _rebel_ could not possibly _trick_ me. What would you gain from putting me on the throne?"

"You're Ozai's greatest weapon. We took you away from him. What can I say? Don't you like the idea of beating your cousin and your daddy and becoming the ruler of the world?"

Azula scowls and turns away, pouting like a child.

"And you said…" Katara does not know if she should be mad or not.

June declares, "Let me take you back to my place here and you both can finish pouting while not in plain sight of the occupying forces."

Azula grabs the messenger bag with the two shiny rocks.

Katara does not get the obsession, especially at a time like this.

[X]

Azula steps inside of this apartment and wants to scream. "This place is disgusting. There is no way I am staying here, even for five minutes."

"Well, you can leave and get a ride on some ship back to your dad or wherever you wanna go," says June, shutting the door behind them. "I'm not kidnapping you, but I bet you wanna stick around for what I'm supposed to tell you guys."

"What are you supposed to tell us?" Katara asks, sitting down on a mat on the floor. Azula decides to remain standing.

"Let me get a drink, then we'll talk," says June, grabbing an open bottle and a dirty glass. Azula grimaces; Katara pays it no mind. "I don't think I was supposed to tell you both at the same time, but you both left your fake names and I don't care enough to try to mess around anymore."

"Start talking," Azula orders.

June rolls her eyes. That stiffens the firebender's posture.

"So, basically, there's going to be a devastating comet coming and it'll be catastrophic if we don't get a third or fourth party involved," bluntly says June. "The fight between the two sides in this Civil War is gonna burn down the whole world or something else dramatic like that."

It strikes Katara speechless. Azula sighs.

"Is _this_ why you people wanted me to defect? I honestly think that adding my fire in two directions will just make things worse for you people." Azula leans against the wall. Her back hurts.

"I'm just the messenger. I figured you two would know what to do with the information." June downs her drink in one gulp. She pours herself another.

"I—" Katara gets cut off by the yelling outside.

Azula strides across the room and peers out of the dusty window. "Our friends seem to have followed us. I guess a lifeboat is not the pinnacle of stealth."

Katara jumps to her feet, confused or not.

"The Ruthless Sun _can't_ have followed us. Why do they want us so much?" Katara exclaims, running to press herself against the window beside Azula.

"We escaped. They have pride issues." Azula sighs and takes a few steps back. She turns to June. "We should get out of here. I doubt things will be very pretty once they start turning the city upside down looking for me and Katara."

Katara spins around. "We can't abandon all of these people! If they really will go so far to get us, we can't just sneak out!"

"Why not?" Azula turns up her palms. "Better their fingernails and lives than mine."

Katara grabs the messenger bag with the fossilized dragon eggs. Azula lunges forward to grab it but Katara pivots away.

Azula lights her fists up bright blue. "I will hurt you for those. You cannot hold them over my head."

Katara shoves open the window with her elbow and holds the messenger bag outside.

"Oh, I'm not holding them over your head. I'm holding them over the street."

Azula steps forward again. Despite the lack of a tell, Katara loosens her grip on the bag and Azula stops her blow before she lands it. Slowly, the princess retreats, but the waterbender does not return the eggs to her.

Then, the roar of fire catches Katara off-guard. She drops them when she pulls away, stunned that half of the street just went up in flames. People screaming makes her panic. It sounds and looks much worse than the average pillaging.

Azula jumps out of the _window_ after the bag. Katara wants to check on her, but the room starts filling with smoke. June throws the alcohol away from herself and it explodes, hissing and flaming up. Katara runs through the door, June close behind her, and tries to find a source of water to put out the flames. No such luck.

They race down to the street below. The chaos masks them; no one recognizes Katarra.

"Let's get out of here," June orders, grabbing Katara's arm.

"I should find Azula," Katara says.

"It's not your fault she jumped out of a window and she's a firebender. She'll be fine. We won't be," June says, tugging on her new ward. Katara has to admit her old colleague has a point.

They start running, fighting soldiers as they go.

[X]

Katara and June run along with the people wise and fast enough to escape Shanxira City. They reach the hills and Katara sits down. She will not abandon this town, but she will sit out on the panic and keep the smoke out of her lungs.

June keeps running and Katara loses track of her in the massive crowd.

Determined to go back for the people she doomed, Katara curls into herself and waits for the soldiers to extinguish the smoke.

[X]

 _I am not looking for Azula,_ Katara tells herself as she walks through the badly burnt streets and tries to find survivors, _I am rescuing the people I doomed._

She helps a kid out from some fallen wood, but every other body she finds is dead, including the sparse few soldiers. They must have been the nonbenders.

Katara continues walking through the carnage, blinking back tears. She recognizes the disfigured building that held June's apartment. Katara does not see Azula outside of it, so she clambers up the stairs.

She sees the discarded, burnt messenger bag first. The eggs have been removed.

"I'm sorry that you have to put back the pieces of your—" Katara hears cats. No, maybe birds? She walks further inside and finds the princess in her underclothes, the outer ones scorched, curled up behind June's counter with two tiny… things moving in front of her.

Not things. "Those are dragons."

"I know," Azula replies, her voice dizzy. She appears to be in a dreamlike state, not a state of shock like Katara. "I saved them, remember?"

Katara stares at the scene in front of her, trying to figure out if this is real or if she passed out from smoke inhalation.

When Azula strokes the blue dragon and it makes a sound unlike anything the waterbender have ever seen before, Katara chokes on her own saliva.

She dares to touch the red one and it presses its scaly head against her hand. The way it looks at her gives her chills, then, as she gazes into its ruby eyes, she feels the strong compulsion to pick it up in her arms.

Katara knows the creature cradled in her arms is half of a powerful spark, but she does not know what the birth of two dragons will ignite.


	7. Luminescent

**Chapter Seven:** Luminescent

* * *

As the sun dips below the horizon, Katara again insists, "I don't _want_ to be a dragon mother."

Azula once more replies, "But you _are_ one."

They both sit at a campsite a few miles away from the pier. Nestled among the trees, Azula maintains a very small fire and Katara fails at cooking fish. The princess does not even touch the burnt meat, but her new blue baby by the name of Kimiko devours it.

"I don't—" Katara stops and looks down at her red baby by the name of Mizu. "They're glowing. Azula, they're _glowing_."

When Azula glances at the two reptiles to verify it she sees that the bioluminescent scales of the two dragons do gleam in the darkness of the night. They look like colorful embers. Katara hesitantly reaches out to touch Mizu and he scuttles around in a circle to rub his face on her hand. She allows him to do it; she does not have the heart to brush away a creature that thinks it is her son.

Kimiko gleams cerulean, like glowing water or the brightness of her mother's fire. She sits contentedly on Azula's lap, purring. Apparently, dragons purr like cats. Katara never would have guessed that in a thousand years.

Katara inquires, "How do they hide from predators when they light up like that?"

"They _are_ predators," Azula says, "and _everything_ is a prey to a dragon."

"Then how do they not scare away their prey?"

"Can you not just enjoy seeing something no one has laid eyes on in over a hundred years?"

"When were the last dragons born? Did they kill the little ones too?"

"Yes. They died first because they were the easiest to slay."

Katara tucks Mizu closer to her and the dragon happily rests its sleek head on her knee. "That's disgusting."

"I know. No one has seen a baby dragon since before the war began. As far as I know, we are the first and should be grateful, not _whiny_."

"I am not whiny. If anything, _you_ are the whiny one."

Azula ceases stroking Kimiko and locks eyes with Katara. Gravely, she says, "We need to go to Caldera."

Katara scoffs. "Why?"

"I want to," Azula replies.

Katara shakes her head. "That's not a good enough reason."

"This is not a _democracy_. You can walk home from here if you want. Me and Kimiko and Mizu are going to Caldera. I will extend an invitation, but I will not force you to accompany me."

"You can't take Mizu!"

"I thought you didn't want to be a dragon mother."

"Sometimes parents don't want babies."

Azula's eyes flash wide and she inquires, "They don't?"

"You…" Katara blanches.

"I am messing with you," Azula says, rolling her eyes. "All I want is to see the beautiful and glorious city worth burning the world over. It must be something, the way my father talks about it."

"Fine. There's a huge port there and I can find a way off this rock and back to my family."

"Then to Caldera we go."

Azula lies down and faintly smiles to herself. Kimiko flutters her glowing cerulean wings and then curls up right against her sleeping mother.

Katara shivers when the fire goes out.

[X]

"I hate rain. I truly hate rain," Azula snaps as she trudges through the muck. Katara keeps a lovely barricade around herself and Mizu keeps at her heels. Kimiko burrows into Azula's clothes to try to stay warm. "Rain is horrible. It is by far the worst thing I have ever—"

"The fight about who the whiny one is certainly has been settled," Katara comments, laughing at the drenched and dripping princess by her side. "Buuuut, we probably should get out of this ravine. We're about to get caught in a flash flood."

"Joyous," Azula mutters under her breath.

"Thank the spirits you're with a waterbender, huh?"

Katara starts to claw her way up the muddy edge of the valley. Azula reaches up, digs her feet in, and slips down, screaming. Katara grabs her and drags her to the top.

"We should take shelter until the storm passes," regally orders Azula.

"Fine. Then what?" Katara asks.

Azula looks out at the city in the distance.

"Then we start the hard part."

[X]

After a scarce dinner of berries that leaves both girls still starving, that night, Katara sees a shred of humanity in Azula as she lies awake with a growling stomach.

" _Leaves from the vine / Falling so slow / Like tiny fragile shells drifting in the foam / little soldier boy / come marching home / brave—"_

Katara knows she should not but she giggles. "What in Tui's name is _that_?"

Azula's face flushes flag red.

"I had no idea you were awake."

"You aren't a bad singer. I'm sure Kimiko appreciates it." Pause. "What's the story behind your dragon's name?"

"I will tell you if you tell me yours."

"Okay."

"Kimiko was the fourth Fire Lord. People revered her as a goddess and believed that she controlled the rise and fall of the sun. They brought her offerings of human sacrifice and would follow her onto any battlefield." Azula shrugs. "I admire Fire Lord Kimiko. It is nothing more than that."

"Mizu was the name of my friend. She was Earth Kingdom and her dad was helping the rebellion with mine. Her mom was killed by Fire Nation soldiers and her dad was her only family so she got stuck with us," Katara says, closing her eyes. "She died while we were liberating a town. I saw a guy slit her throat."

"That must have been disturbing."

"It wasn't as bad as my mom. I… I shut my eyes as hard as I could but when I have nightmares about her death I think I can see it."

"How did your mother die?"

"She lied. She told the invading Fire Nation soldiers that she was the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. To protect me. I was the real one, and she died saving me. I wish she hadn't."

"Well, she clearly loved you. Count yourself lucky."

"Mothers love. Mothers would love someone if they grew up to be a mass murderer." Katara subconsciously draws Mizu closer to her.

Azula bitterly scoffs, her reaction uncannily strong. "Your naivety is _almost_ endearing."

Katara does not ask.

[X]

In the morning, Azula and Katara walk along the side of the ravine in silence. Kimiko perches on Azula's shoulder while Katara holds Mizu in her arms. They unrelentingly trek towards the city side by side, ready to accept whatever dangers lurk there.

After some time of traveling like this, they stop to catch their breath and drink some of the water Katara has been storing and Azula boiling.

As she looks out at the horizon, "I was born in Caldera," says Azula, "but I remember almost nothing of it. When my grandfather died, my cousin returned from Ba Sing Se victorious and the funeral followed by celebration party are the last things I remember of this place. I certainly do not recall so much _rain_."

Katara rubs her face.

"The rain isn't so bad. It's better than snow; you would hate snow," states Katara. "And it would do a much better job of freezing and burying us."

"I have seen snow," Azula snaps. "I grew up in Ba Sing Se. Winters are harsh there. I love snow, actually."

"What? But you hate being wet or cold and…?"

"It calms me to see the endless white, like frigid ashes covering the world. I enjoy melting it into ice sculptures like I did when I was a little girl."

"Huh," Katara remarks. "I would've sooner guessed that dragons glow in the dark."

"I used to go to this stream underneath the palace in Ba Sing Se. There are catacombs with crystals that glimmer brightly even in the dark. But that is not the beautiful part. I hate water, but the water there was so clear it was like looking through glass," says Azula, looking down at the water that she considers clear enough to be safe but cannot hold a candle to the crystalline pools of the crystal catacombs.

"It sounds like you had a nice life," says Katara. "Do you regret leaving?"

"I have no regrets."

"None at all?"

"I never have. They are beneath me," coldly says Azula, believing wholeheartedly what her father taught her about remorse. "They hold you back."

"They keep you from making the same mistake and they make you fix the one you made," Katara states, now fixing her gaze on Azula. She means each word she says.

Here comes the rain again. It begins to pour down on the girls, giving Azula a perfect excuse to rise, escape the conversation, and find shelter beneath a tree.

[X]

Azula washes her face in the clear but flooded stream that the two girls find. An ancient stone bridge branches over the foaming rapids; it means that their walk has almost come to an end. Thankfully, no one crosses it while they clean themselves up.

"We look like beggars," Azula says. "It does not matter how much we wash and put ourselves together. Even the poorest in Caldera do not look as shabby as us."

Katara looks up. She holds water cupped in her hand that Mizu eagerly laps up.

"Azula," she says, snagging the attention of the princess, "we survived a deserted island, crossing a flash flood in the wilderness, and the burning and pillaging of a city. I don't think we'll come out of that looking like royalty."

"You would never look like royalty," snarks Azula, which makes Katara roll her cobalt eyes. " _You_ are a rebel peasant. _I_ am the rightful ruler of the city we are about to enter."

Katara groans. "I'm seriously not explaining the fact that we're of the same social rank again."

"Good. I am sick of hearing it," Azula snaps, wringing out her overclothes and slipping them back on over her dirty slip. Kimiko mewls and claws at Azula's leg, begging to be held by her mother. "And so is my baby girl."

Azula picks up Kimiko, climbs up the banks, careful to avoid muddying herself, and begins to cross the bridge. On the other side, she sees a sign for the city and a bulletin board beside it. She and Katara are not on it; the Ruthless Sun must have kept their discovery to themselves.

 _But_ an invitation to a masquerade ball at the Caldera Opera House is stuck in the center. _Anyone_ is invited; it is to be held for the entire public under Lu Ten's regime. Azula's head swims with the thousand fantasies. She has a chance to live the high and noble life of the city that should have been hers. This is a dream come true and she will do whatever it takes to attend this masquerade.

"Katara!" Azula calls and Kimiko squirms. "Katara, come look at this!"

The waterbender clambers up the bank and stands beside Azula. The Fire Princess points and Katara rolls her eyes.

"No, no, no, nope, nope, nope…"

"There will be a lot of food," says Azula, knowing that will win over her companion.

Katara wants to say no, but then her stomach grumbles louder than an enraged monster.

[X]

Several hours later, Katara stands in front of the building made of obsidian and engraved with gold wearing a stolen ruby ballgown and stolen red mask. Azula won this fight. The formidable fortress called the Royal Palace looms in the near distance. Azula smooths her own gorgeous and equally stolen dress and nods towards the door.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Katara says, sighing and following Azula. "I also don't think they're going to let us sneak two dragons in that ugly bag."

Azula holds it tighter to her body. "It is my purse, Katara. It contains vital make-up that—"

"Vital make-up that _moves_?" Katara asks, slipping open the flap to check on Mizu and Kimiko. She touches a finger to her lips and they both settle down.

"We will get lost in the crowd, I assure you. No one will notice the baby dragons," says Azula, but Katara highly doubts that. "Now, let us dance and enjoy the benefits of Caldera."

"You just want to taste royalty," says Katara.

"And you have no need to follow me. I am not forcing you to stay. I absolved you of your prisoner status as thanks for assisting my escape from the Ruthless Sun."

"I'm staying because I could use a nice dress and a night off after all we've been through," states Katara. "Plus, you're probably going to get yourself and Mizu killed, and I take responsibility for being a Dragon Mother now."

Azula smirks. "Shall we enter the masquerade?"

"We shall," states Katara.

They stride inside.

[X]

Katara focuses on the food. Never has she related more to her brother. After eating nothing but berries for days, she stuffs herself. She cares little for the people of Caldera or the stunning voice of the singer. They are only distractions from the food.

Azula briefly eats before she explores. Her father told her about the Opera House and she always wanted to see it. At night, she would dream about Caldera and the stories her elders told. Now, she sees it all before her.

She wanders through the party and more than one person tugs her into a brief dance. Twirling and swaying in the sparkling room makes her breathless. Azula does not know if she has been so happy in quite some time.

Then her bag begins to mrrp and wriggle. She dashes as subtly as she can through the crowd of people enjoying the party and finds Katara still at the buffet table, shoving a sweet roll into her mouth.

"We should probably get out of here," says Azula. Then music sounds.

"And announcing the entrance of your Fire Lord—"

Azula seizes Katara's arm. She yelps and Mizu squeals from the bag.

"We should _really_ get out of here," Azula snarls, and Katara looks up at the stage. Lu Ten begins to stride down from the stage and Katara nods.

"I ate," she says, turning to her former captor. "Let's go."

"But I want to go through the upper floors. I want to see them," Azula says, "and it will give us less of a chance of detection."

"Okay," says Katara, shrugging. She does not care how they escape, as long as they do.

The girls step through the party as fast as they can. Then, Azula bumps right into the chest of a guy. He will grab her, of course, like _everyone_ has tonight. He takes her in his arms and begins to sway to the music.

Azula at first thinks about punching him, until she sees the crown.

"I should go," Azula hastily says. "My friend is sick."

She spins and Katara nods at her. Fire Lord Lu Ten gazes after the girl in the jeweled dress as she and her oddly colored friend race through the party. He sees her bag moving and making a sound unlike any he has ever heard before and his suspicions rise.

Azula and Katara run towards the hallways and smash into the guards.

The Ruthless Sun. The Ruthless Sun is doing security.

"I am never listening to you again," hisses Katara in Azula's ear once she recognizes the woman in charge.

They dash up the stairs and make it into the shadowy, cold, upper hallways away from the sweltering and crowded party. The two girls make it to an upper room and shove open the door to jump down from the roof.

"Hang back and keep watch while I jump down. Then you follow me," orders Azula.

Katara thinks she might hurl, therefore, she lets the princess believe she is obeying. To tell the truth, she needs to stand still for a moment to keep her stomach from emptying its contents.

Azula runs and jumps from the balcony, but a strong male hand grabs her wrist and pulls her back up. He removes her mask and looks directly into eyes that match his own. Katara edges onto the scene and groans; the guards cornered her. This is what she gets for trusting Azula.

The waterbender looks at the silent, muscular man holding Azula by her wrists. His crown gives him away. As does Azula's speechlessness.

Katara would rate Fire Lord Lu Ten as a ten out of ten on the hot scale. She also would rate her situation as ten out of ten on the avoidable tragedy scale.

"Azula?" he asks, his eyes flashing wide. He walks towards her and she prepares to fight, but he pulls her into a tight and very confusing hug. When the embrace breaks, Azula stares at him in shock. "Family is always welcome."

That certainly is not true. They are in the midst of a Civil War.

But Azula does the smart thing and keeps her mouth shut.

"I…" Azula turns to Katara, as if she expects a fabulous lie to fly from her lips. The waterbender just stares at her with wide, helpless cobalt eyes. "I came to help you. I ran away from my father to help your efforts at the war, which is why I snuck into the city and entered the palace."

"Who is she?"

"That is my servant, Katara."

Katara glowers.

"And your bag is moving because…?"

A restless and mewling Kimiko gives Azula only seconds to come up with a lie. She falls short as her baby girl rises up from the bag and begins to glow in the dark. Lu Ten's eyes widen. Katara struggles against the two metal clamps the Ruthless Sun put on her wrists that suppress her strength and bending.

"Dragons," Azula whispers, knowing the truth will serve her best. "I hatched them."

Katara grits her teeth and rolls her eyes, rueing the day she did not leave Azula to die in the burning Shanxira City.

After studying the beautiful and miraculous sight of two baby dragons, Lu Ten fixes his gaze on his little cousin and says, "Perhaps we can work something out…"

[X]

Azula glances around at the palace, drinking it in like a bitter tea. It fills her with hot rage. Ba Sing Se may have been nice enough, but it was in _ruins_ for Agni's sake. Lu Ten and their ancestors preserved this obsidian fortress palace to pristine perfection.

It smells like incense and prestige. Ba Sing Se always smelled of war byproducts. This place has a class unlike anything of her home. Azula runs her hands across the walls to feel closer to their smooth secrets. She gazes at beautiful features and studies the historical artifacts that belong to _her family_. It is a family she now feels like she never knew.

"The dragons are… interesting," says the cousin she never met, gazing at Kimiko and Mizu. "You say you… hatched them?"

"Yes," Azula curtly replies. "Katara and I found them on a deserted island once inhabited by the Sun Warriors. The eggs were buried in a Dragon Temple. We took them with us and they hatched during the fire that consumed Shanxira City."

Lu Ten stops walking and turns to her and Katara.

"Well, welcome to Caldera. I won't turn you away, since you broke off things with your father. I suppose you've heard some bad things about me."

"I know better than to believe every bedtime story, cousin," purrs Azula, winking. She plays at mocking him, hoping it will make her seem more comfortable and like less of a threat.

Lu Ten says, still staring directly at the two baby dragons, "Of course you do. What would you two like? Wine, uh, women—if you're not… exclusive."

Katara blushes and her jaw drops. Azula can only laugh at the presumption. She _loves_ how much it bothers Katara and, despite finding her companion to be an enemy she would never fraternize with, does not mind. Katara is hot and her exotic status would make Azula looks enviable in the eyes of Fire Nation people. Azula would essentially own the heart and body of someone desirable.

"We're not together!" Katara exclaims, clenching her fists.

She clearly does not see, like Azula, how being the object of a royal's affections would boost her status. Or how they would never have to act on such disgusting suggestions in private.

Lu Ten glares at her. " _You_ should keep your mouth shut, if you know what's good for you. The only reason you are not locked up in a waterbender's prison is because that dragon imprinted on you. I thought you both were mothers together, but I stand corrected."

Azula smugly smirks at her begrudged ally. Katara rolls her cobalt eyes.

"Right. Is there anything you want?" Lu Ten asks regally, gesturing at everything in the palace.

 _All of this_ , thinks Azula. _I want to be_ you _._

"I wouldn't mind a grand tour of the city I was born in, but not today," says Azula politely. "The hour is getting late. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Don't mention it." Pause. "To tell the truth, this is entirely selfish of me. I've heard what you can do, and now you have living dragons. You're an invaluable asset, and I want to keep you happy."

 _You sound just like your Uncle Ozai,_ Azula wants to snap back, but she smiles regally at him.

"I always trust those with selfish motives and no one else," she purrs.

He gestures at a door in these shadowy living quarters.

"Your room. You can share it with your Water Tribe companion," says Lu Ten. "I will see you both in the morning."

Azula hesitantly walks inside and Katara even more nervously follows. Unsurprisingly, he locks the door behind them. They stand inside the plush quarters and stare at each other.

"And now we're prisoners," sighs Katara, before beginning to furiously grind her teeth.

"Did you expect something else?" Azula cocks an eyebrow.

"I expected," says Katara fiercely, "you to have better sense than to get all caught up in pretending to be a royal, which got us _captured_."

"My cousin is not a bad ally to have."

"You can't possibly trust him. He's a _monster!"_ Katara's eyes glisten with tears. Azula huffs at the display of passionate emotion.

"So are many people," Azula casually snaps. Katara clenches her fists.

"Do you trust those many people not to kill you and take your dragons?"

"He will probably go back on his word," admits Azula. "However, I think this will be a nice vacation after the nightmare we have endured."

"There is a balcony," Azula says.

"And you think we have several stories worth of blankets and towels in this room?"

"No. I think I need a bit of sunshine before I go to sleep, and Kimiko would appreciate it as well. The sunset already looks beautiful over my city," Azula says as she pries open the balcony door and walks out onto the obsidian. The wind whips through her hair as Katara watches from inside.

Mizu mrrps, poking her head out of the leather bag, and Katara sits down on the bed to cradle her in her arms. She rocks the lovely dragon to sleep, while Azula holds Kimiko and lets her look out at what one day will be theirs to reign over and own.

Azula gazes, rapt, at the sunset over the seaside city.

[X]

After the sun vanishes below the horizon, someone knocks on the door. Katara rises, sets down Mizu, and answers it to see a guard. He rubs his lips together uncomfortably.

"The Fire Lord has asked for you both—and your, uh, he said children—to join him for dinner," says the guard, and he backs away quickly.

Katara does not take that as a good sign, but she has not eaten properly in ages. She picks up Mizu, slips her beneath her shirt, and Azula does the same. They walk down the hall as the guard guides them and at last reach a gorgeous and ornate dining room.

The table is laden with food and drink. It smells of a thousand mouth-watering flavors, the sweet scent of perfumey dishes rising above all else. The sight of the feast almost makes Katara _faint_ , and Azula adores it. It looks better than anything in her father's domain of Ba Sing Se. Azula touches the table and feels a smooth veneer that gives her goosebumps. The girls cannot wait to taste it.

Katara sits down and Lu Ten, sitting at the head of the table, does not comment on it. Azula takes a seat across from him and Kimiko wriggles from her shirt to look hungrily at the many kinds of roasted meat.

Lu Ten stares at the dragon, which both girls consider to be a perfectly normal reaction. They _are_ the first two of their species in decades. Or are they the _last_ two of their species?

"You two may eat," he says, and Katara happily digs in, again noting how little credit she gave her brother's obsession. Azula merely strokes Kimiko's head and studies her cousin. "Would you like something else, Azula?"

"No, thank you. I am merely wary of your hospitality."

Katara spits out her food onto her plate. "Is it poisoned?"

Azula smirks. "That was not what I meant. I would have _warned_ you if it were poison."

"No, you wouldn't've," says Katara, grabbing a replacement slice of meat.

"You are right," Azula concedes. "It would have been a remarkably easy way to get rid of you. Now, Lu Ten, my father sort of tried to have you killed and then started a war when that did not happen, and so I imagine the only reason you would show me kindness is because you want to steal Kimiko and Mizu."

"I wouldn't have to steal them if you joined the Fire Nation and stayed here as my guest," says Lu Ten and Azula narrows her eyes. She cannot be sure of his intentions since she cannot recall the last time she spoke to him, if ever. "I would never punish you for something your father did, but I also can't let you leave with the dragons."

After a moment of contemplation, Azula starts to eat.

She supposes she would do the exact same thing in his position.

[X]

Azula says, as dinner winds down, "Katara and I need to go to the bathroom."

Lu Ten steels himself and skeptically inquires, "Together?"

Without hesitation, Azula smoothly states, "Have you ever met a girl, cousin? We never go to the bathroom alone."

Lu Ten's cheeks flush. Despite being a Fire Lord, the existence of teenage girls still manages to unhinge him like any other young man. "Uh, okay. My guards will escort you."

"Thank you," Azula purrs, putting on her most vapid expression to soothe any of his concerns about her. It works, and Katara rises to follow Azula and the two guards.

They stop in the middle of the hallway. Azula sets her palm on the chest of the weaker-looking of the two soldiers.

"We have lady issues. Would you both leave us?" Azula purrs, batting her eyelashes.

The two burly men exchange a glance. Katara's heart leaps into her throat as she wonders if this will blow up in their faces or not. She would not be surprised if it did.

"Yes, princess," says one of the men.

Azula shoots a smirk Katara's way. "He said _princess_. I _told you_."

Katara huffs and glares at the guard. "Now look what you did."

He turns bright red and looks flustered as the two girls stride away. Azula begins to make a beeline for the bathroom the guards were pointed at, but then Azula stops and slips into a presumably forbidden corridor. Katara clenches her fists. _Oh no_.

"What are we doing?" hisses Katara.

"Snooping," Azula softly replies. "We need to find an escape route if we need it later."

"What happens if someone catches us?" Katara demands, glowering fiercely. She did not know she could even look so terrifying, and feels quite proud of herself.

Azula chimes in reply, "We tell them we got lost looking for the bathroom."

"And that works?" Katara asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"Not usually." Azula smirks as Katara fumes.

With a twinkle in her gilded eyes, Azula continues peering around every corner, examining the world that could have been hers. It wounds her to the soul, but she keeps focused on finding a way out of this maze she lies trapped within.

Katara begrudgingly follows her dreadful companion on her tiptoes.

[X]

Azula and Katara return to the dining room after uncovering three different escapes they may be able to take. Katara has zero faith in any of them, but she rushed Azula along. She is _not_ getting caught where she is not meant to be in the Fire Nation again. It was bad enough the first time.

Lu Ten waits for them, examining the dragons that roughhouse with each other in the table.

"They're remarkable creatures," he says in a half-daze. He looks almost sad, to Katara's shock. "I cannot believe what my father did to the last one."

"If it helps," purrs Azula, again fluttering those eyelashes and forcing Katara to stifle laughter, "I cannot believe the majority of what my father does."

Lu Ten smiles at her. "I cannot either. He is a formidable opponent. Did he allow you to leave him? I doubt it."

"I ran away to defect," lies Azula. "I tired of him."

"He will send people after you," says Lu Ten, shaking his head as if ashamed of his uncle. Katara considers this entire conversation between cousins to be forced and farcical.

"I can think of countless ones he likely already has. There are a few people who know me well, that might find me if I overstay your welcome," says Azula, adding the last part to again assure him that she has no schemes. Of course, she lies again by saying it.

She also thinks about those close to her he knows how to exploit.

Mai. Ty Lee. Mostly Mai and Ty Lee.

Perhaps Ozai would not think of them. Azula hopes for that. As much as she still loves and admires Ozai, her father's hubris _is_ reliable as the sunrise and sunset.

"How was your bathroom trip?" asks Lu Ten. Katara begins to panic; he might be on to them.

"It was pleasant. I am not used to such amenities as those this palace offers," Azula purrs, drumming her fingers on the table. Kimiko prances over and begins to rub her head against Azula's lower arm. She gently strokes her daughter's neck and kisses her sharp cerulean forehead.

"Your servant must have been impressed." Lu Ten toothily smiles at Katara. Then his expression sobers and the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe tightly clutches the table to keep herself stable. "She isn't your servant, is she? She's more than that."

Azula says, as much as it pains her, "Yes. She is my girlfriend."

Katara chokes on her own saliva. She could not imagine something grosser than that.

Lu Ten says, "I figured. You two are cute together."

Katara begins laughing and Azula glowers at her.

"She gets nervous when people comment on us," Azula purrs, smirking at Lu Ten. "We would like to be off to bed now, cousin."

"Not like that!" shouts Katara and Lu Ten's eyes flash wide. "We just want to go to sleep. There will be no sexy things going on."

"I…" That strikes Lu Ten speechless so he clears his throat and claps his hands for the servants and slaves to clear the table.

Azula deviously smirks at Katara and picks up Kimiko.

Katara grabs Mizu with an angry scowl.

[X]

"I am not attracted to you. _Trust me_ ," Azula says, cackling at the very notion. Katara could not disgust her more. "It was wise of me because now he thinks he has you as leverage over me. He does not, of course. People who obviously hate each other often get interpreted as couples."

Katara sticks out her tongue. "I hate you, and I hate royalty."

"I thought you _were_ royalty," mocks Azula, smirking ever wider. "Isn't your daddy the _Chief_ of the Southern Water Tribe?"

"I hate you," Katara repeats. She sits down with her bioluminescent dragon and gazes at the moon through the window. "We better escape soon."

"In due time," says Azula, which means she will play around with being royalty for a while longer.

Katara hates her, hates her, hates her.

And cannot believe the nerve of Azula for calling her _her girlfriend_.

* * *

 _A/N: I hope this doesn't seem like I'm diving into an Azutara relationship. I want to build them up as plausible friends before it will transcend into something romantic, but I think I'll hint at sexual tension in a similar fashion to Katara and Zuko. I actually want their relationship to take some cues from Katara and Zuko in canon since I think, if that culminated in a romance in S3, it would be very well-paced. I always enjoy people who are endgame getting mistaken as dating, however. It's a trope I like and I hope it doesn't concern any readers. Thank you for reading this far and I hope you're enjoying the show._


	8. Solstice

**_A/N:_** _I know Avatar Roku and his connection to Zuko and Azula is overused in series rewrites / AUs but he makes for such a good plot device and I've always been intrigued by the potential of the familial connection. Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you're enjoying the show._

* * *

 **Chapter Nine:** Solstice

* * *

Katara wakes to golden sunlight with Mizu curled up on top of her. She lies on the palace floor—which she sleeps on while Azula takes the bed—and she rises to see Azula already doing her smooth, flowing stretches. Sunrise. At sunrise this girl wakes up and _moves_. Katara will never understand firebenders.

Suddenly, it strikes her. Insistent thoughts and images invade her mind as she remembers the vivid nightmare she had last night.

"I had this dream," Katara says to Azula, rubbing her eyes. "I dreamed about some guy with a beard telling me to go to some place called Crescent Island for the Winter Solstice. When's that?"

"Two days from now," softly says Azula, twisting herself and smoothly sitting down across from Katara.

"Yeah," Katara says, attempting to shrug off the strange man in her dream. "I doubt we're getting out of this awful place by then."

"It is not an awful place," Azula snarls. "It is the palace I _deserve_."

Katara frowns and turns to face Azula. "Why are you so certain I deserve it?"

"Because I have royal blood in my veins," says Azula. "I never cease to be surprised by your stupidity. Do you not think you have claim to the South Pole?"

Katara just rolls her eyes. Azula glowers. Katara _does_ have claim to the Southern Tribe, which no longer exists thanks to the Civil War. Yet, she rarely thinks about that because the rebels who raised her and Sokka have been the only home she needs. Katara does not need to be a princess to have leadership skills, and she does not need allegedly divine blood to be strong.

The _minute_ she has a chance, she is getting as far away from Azula as possible.

Katara coolly says, "Okay, the problem is how we can get to Crescent Island when we're held hostage. Since I'm apparently an idiot, do you have a suggestion?"

"We ask my cousin," Azula suggests, helping Kimiko onto her lap. She strokes the neck of her purring dragon. "We just have to make up a convincing story and you will say nothing as you are terrible at lying."

"How am I bad at lying?" Katara snaps, eyebrows shooting up. "I've never lied to you!"

"Exactly," Azula coldly says, smirking at what she perceives to be her own brilliance. Katara narrows her cobalt eyes, seething.

Katara collects herself, sighs and says, "Okay, fine. How do you plan to convince him?"

Azula need only think for a few moments. "I will tell him that the dragons must be taken to Crescent Island to gain their full strength. He intends to steal them at some point, and therefore wants them to be as powerful as possible."

"He does covet them." Katara pauses to kiss Mizuki on the head, while the baby dragon pays at her, starved for attention. "But we won't let him have them."

"Of course not. Now follow me, will you?" Azula perkily stands up and knocks on the door for the guard to let them out.

As she follows the Fire Princess, Katara disclaims, "Only because of my dream; not because you said so."

Azula rolls her eyes as they pass the two sleepy guards and make a beeline for the throne room. They arrive and walk through the grand black stone doors and stand before Lu Ten. They bow. Low. Azula despises it, but she knows she must play this cleverly. Katara hates it just as much, but she has no desire to irritate someone who could squash her in an instant.

"Cousin," purrs Azula, kneeling while Katara stays down, "the dragons need to do something to reach their full potential and we were passing through Caldera to make that happen when we were captured."

"They need to go to parties?" He shakes his head after the joke. "Yes?"

"They must go to the Fire Sages on Crescent Island on the Winter Solstice."

Lu Ten remains silent, making the girls tense. Finally, he clears his throat.

"I will have you escorted there with Kimiko and Mizu. I need my soldiers due to your father's boldness, therefore, I have contracted the Ruthless Sun."

Katara sits up on her knees, cobalt eyes wide. She exchanges a panicked glance with Azula, but the scheming princess has her mind on the golden egg she failed to rescue. It keeps her composed, a glint in her gleaming eyes.

"We accept your gracious offer," Azula prettily purrs. Katara has to admit how conniving her innocent and sweet act is. Her usually cold, wicked, superior eyes become doe eyes, rotund and sparkling in the firelight emanating from the throne.

Lu Ten smiles. He looks twisted for the first time and Katara's stomach does a backflip.

"The Ruthless Sun will be here as soon as I send a messenger hawk. You two and your dragons should enjoy breakfast before your journey begins."

"Thank you, cousin," purrs Azula.

She stands and Katara does the same.

They both smoothly exit the room, both still shaking slightly about the idea of the Ruthless Sun accompanying them.

[X]

Azula and Katara both cannot help but show signs of anxiety when they join the mercenaries who work for neither side and begin the journey to Crescent Island. Kimiko and Mizu perch on the shoulders of their respective mothers, Mizu chewing on Katara's hair.

"I've never seen one of those," comments a stocky man in painted armor. He wears a necklace of dried ears.

"One of what? A princess, a waterbender from the Southern Tribe or a dragon?"

"Dragon, dragons actually," the man bluntly says. He reaches forward to touch Kimiko and the blue dragon violent hisses, making him recoil several steps. Azula smirks, pleased by her dragon daughter's reaction.

Azula regally boards the carriage, stretching herself in a way that makes Katara roll her eyes. So desperately this princess wants to be a _real_ princess, but, Katara does not have the heart to crush her. It might be the only opportunity Azula has to live this pipe dream of hers.

Katara hoists herself inside and casually sits down, setting Mizu on her lap.

Dragons and dragon mothers sit across from each other as the ostrich-horses and huge escort of mercenaries begin the journey.

[X]

The Ruthless Sun has even more fighters standing outside. Azula analyzes everything about them. Three of the masked soldiers guarding the entrances to the temple strike her as oddly familiar in how they carry themselves, but she shrugs it off. If they were on that island, they were on the island; Azula and Katara now have Lu Ten's protection.

And both girls kick butt. That too.

They walk inside and go through the lengthy process of dealing with Fire Sages, then sit and drink tea while they wait for the sun to set.

Suddenly, when dusk strikes, Azula's head begins to hurt, and then the room starts to spin. Katara feels the exact same alarming thing.

Azula and Katara's dizziness fades and they glance around a suddenly smoke room. An emerging figure draws their attention. Azula recognizes him, but Katara does not.

"Avatar Roku," says Azula.

"The lasts of their kind stand before me, and I feel my reincarnation will never do the same. The Spirit World and my past lives have convened to decide what to do in the distinct absence of an Avatar. You two are the humans we decided upon, and we trust you can handle the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"While I do not doubt standing out above other humans, you are mistaken because I am not the last of any kind," Azula says.

His look shuts her up. Katara suppresses a laugh.

"I have seen the dragons you hatched. The entire Spirit World has, and they look on waiting for them to make a difference. Azula, your companion balances you; she is strength and has a heart full of passion. Remain with her if you wish to attain your dreams and survive the summer."

Azula shoots Katara a glare; no one, even a dead Avatar, can stop her from hating her.

"Fine," says Azula. "Why do you want me to stick with her?"

"You hatched dragons; you are therefore the Last Dragon Queen, and with the three surviving children of serpents must stop the cataclysm that will be Sozin's Comet."

Azula's eyes flash. She knows very well her father intends to use it to overtake Caldera and win the Civil War against Lu Ten. She does not doubt that her cousin plans to do the same, and that both armies of fire could destroy the world instead of find any victory.

Avatar Roku continues, "You two must restore balance. The stakes are the fate of the world and I volunteered one of you for sake of nothing but a half-poisoned bloodline. Do not disappoint the spirits… or the human lives that will end if you both fail."

The vision begins to fade. Azula and Katara have countless questions. It cannot end this soon.

"Wait!" shouts Katara, but it does her no good.

Before they can even blink away the vivid images of the vision, the leader of the Ruthless Sun squad turns to them.

"Have the dragons gained their full power?"

Azula lies, "Yes. Return us to Caldera."

"Take them," the leader orders, snarling in a way that distorts the grotesque scar crossing over his lip. "Leave the princess alive; I don't care what happens to the other."

They lunge forward and the two girls slide into fighting positions, back to back with their dragons clinging to their shoulders. The Ruthless Sun circles around them and threaten to come at them from all sides with fire and steel.

"Make my day," Azula snarls.

"Yeah!" Katara snaps, ignoring her gag reflex caused by agreeing with Azula. "Make our day!"

"How clever, Katara," Azula mocks.

"Shut up," Katara growls, grabbing the water from the wash basin across the room.

The Ruthless Sun comes at them full force. Azula spins, afraid for Kimiko, but her baby dragon flies from her perch and Azula takes down a man swinging a sword with a bolt of lightning. Kimiko latches onto and clings to the a firebender's neck with her claws. She bites at his face tears out his neck with her claws, blood splattering over her sapphire scales. Azula smirks, swelling with pride. She must peel her eyes from Kimiko's next victim and burn a woman with a spear. The woman screams and drops her weapon and Katara throws daggers of ice her way. She melts the water once the woman falls back and smacks back an archer with a water whip. Azula sends a wave of cerulean flame forward that kills three at once. Kimiko and Mizu take care of the last two Ruthless Sun mercenaries. Katara and Azula wait a beat before breathing sighs of relief.

"We have to run; we have to get to the Earth Kingdom," says Azula.

"Finally," Katara grumbles.

They recover their dragons and race to the door. As soon as they burst through it, they prepare to fight the Ruthless Sun mercenaries waiting outside. But Katara feels three thuds against her skin and the same strange sensation caused by those metal bands that stole her bending. She drops to the ground. Azula sees Katara fall and dodges, but takes four hits and falls on top of her comrade.

Katara looks up at the contract killer above her, but they are hazy. Her eyelids flutter as she strains to focus. She waits for her dragons to save her, but then she sees them in cages. It makes her heart thud and she wants to scream and fight, but she cannot move.

Azula knows these alleged mercenaries. She also knows this will go poorly.

Katara sees a face she recognizes. At least, she remembers the fashion in which it was marred. It is the same boy who helped Azula capture her before they became stranded on the island.

"I honestly didn't think my cousin would trust people who value gold over loyalty," says Azula's brother. "But he did."

"Azula!" snaps Katara.

"It was _your_ dream! None of this is my fault!"

Katara sees a boot over her face before she feels a burst of pain and blacks out.

[X]

When Katara opens her eyes, she sees Azula sitting against a metal wall. Nausea hits her when she feels the sea rocking beneath her. Her face hurts worse than it ever has in her life, even when she was a little kid and Sokka nailed her in the nose with that rough snowball. It broke, blood staining the snow red.

She glances around and sees that she is most certainly in a cell. It looks exactly like the one she was in before the shipwreck that thrust her and Azula together.

"Are you awake yet?" demands Princess Azula as soon as she sees the glint of Katara's eyes.

"Unfortunately," Katara replies. "What happened?"

"You were knocked out. For a long time too; that is _very_ bad for you."

"I know!" Katara snaps. She then composes herself. "Are we with the Ruthless Sun?"

"No. Much worse," Azula says, crossing her arms. These soldiers belong to her father, and they are led by three people she is not happy to see.

Katara suddenly remembers Zuko standing over her. "Your brother then."

Azula considers giving Katara an entire briefing on Mai and Ty Lee, but she decides she might need to use that information to her advantage. If Katara can be sacrificed for Azula's freedom, she gladly will do so.

"And two others," she vaguely purrs, and Katara crawls forward. The light from the dim lamp shows the full extent of her disgusting injuries. Azula manages to avoid recoiling. She takes a breath and continues, "They will be taking us to my father, I am certain. I was surprised about Zuko due to his exile until I realized he would do anything to fall back into my father's favor. And I imagine they have Mizu and Kimiko somewhere on this ship."

"Do they have the golden egg?" Katara asks, suddenly interested in the artifact. Azula assumes it must have something to do with Avatar Roku speaking of _three_ children, not just two.

Azula says, "Maybe. They could've taken it from the Ruthless Sun but I don't know whether or not they even know it existed."

She has thought constantly of rescuing that unborn dragon since she left the island, but right now she cares far more about saving Kimiko and Mizu. They take precedence.

Katara touches her tender, bruised, bloody face and inquires, "I don't know who's worse. Lu Ten or your dad."

"The latter." Pause. Azula recalls every second of his cruelty, which she admired most of the time, but despised when it involved training her to be his weapon in the war. If he knew she were a Dragon Queen, he would be able to use that to garner more forces. Azula would, again, be born solely to help her father win a war he started. To tell the truth, even after running away to take control of her own destiny, she never hated him and often thought she would do the same to her child in that situation. But after seeing Caldera and briefly living in that palace, she realizes she had options other than growing up in the rubble of Ba Sing Se. And she hates him. For the first time, she hates him.

"Why is your dad worse?" Katara asks, and Azula absolutely will not tell her all of that.

She does give another honest opinion. "He is not a very forgiving man, and Lu Ten was kind because he wanted us to join him. My father will give us no choice. I love him, but he does not like to sacrifice a weapon. The war and the throne have always been the only things he cares about."

Katara scowls at Azula's assumption that she could give in to a Fire Lord's imposition. "There's a choice, okay? I'd never joined either side."

Azula changes the subject, tired already of discussing Ozai. "What do you think the vision meant? About restoring balance? Perhaps I am meant to rule."

"I disagree but that's an argument for a less dungeon-y day. He—he did say you were the Last Dragon Queen. What's that?" Katara crawls even closer. Azula averts her eyes from that messed up face.

Azula smoothly explains, "The Dragon Queens died out before the dragons did. They were equals to the Fire Lord and raised the dragons. I don't know; most of it is merely legend."

Katara sighs when she remembers another part of Avatar Roku's remarks. "And we're apparently supposed to stick together. How fun."

"Well, yet again we are in a situation where we do not have much volition."

Katara mirthlessly laughs. "Do you think we'll be lucky enough for another shipwreck?"

"No, but Ba Sing Se is far enough from the sea that we might be able to escape. The weakest link could be… exploited."

"Who's that? Your brother?"

"No. He is too obsessed with regaining our father's love. Ty Lee. Loyal people are so easy to manipulate and I assure you she always was in love with me. Unrequited, the poor thing."

"You know," says Katara, "sometimes you can be very cold."

"That is how I intend to be. All the best people are."

"Not me."

"I know. I said all the _best_ people are."

"I might not listen to Avatar Roku."

"You will. You always hoped for some excuse to save the world… or at least, for someone to do the job for you. You are that type. Trust me; I am a people person."

"I don't need anyone to do _anything_ for me. Do I want to restore balance? _Of course_! Why would I _not_? I can do it on my own."

"That is not what Avatar Roku said."

"He said stuff about a bloodline. Maybe it is _mine_."

Azula laughs. Katara glowers.

"I cannot possibly imagine that to be true. It is cute that you can, however."

"Shut up." Katara groans. "My face hurts. Does it look bad?"

"No worse than usual."

Katara sighs and leans against the metal cell wall. She does not know how _anyone_ has ever tolerated this girl, but she has little time to contemplate it.

Both girls have only the vision and their uncertain fate on their minds.


End file.
